Finn and Jake's Magnificent Adventure!
by BlackMH
Summary: A strange man from a distant kingdom has come to take Princess Bubblegum hand in marriage! Naturally, Finn becomes jealous and does something about it, but Finn finds himself on a perilous journey across Ooo, and in more trouble than he bargained for.
1. An epic pillow fight

Greetings everyone! I'm a new face around this section but I'm also a good writer myself. So what am I writing today? Why, it's an Adventure Time fan fic, and if you don't know what Adventure Time is, quit wasting your time and watch it. Now.

I absolutely love Adventure Time, so, why not make a fan fic about it? Right now, though, I believe this will be my only AT fan fic I'll ever write, but who knows? I might get a really good idea in the future. Although, I don't think it'll top this one in terms of plot. Enough chit-chat, start reading!

**Summary**: _A strange man from a distant kingdom has come to take Princess Bubblegum's hand in marriage! Naturally, Finn becomes jealous and decides to do some snooping, but he soon finds himself on a perilous journey across the Land of Ooo, and in more trouble than what he bargained for._

**Chapter Summary**: What do you expect? It's just the first chapter.

~Prologue~

"How do you think I should present myself?" a man in his late teens asked. His voice was sweet to the ear, a charming disposition granted only to few.

"I believe a formal yet grand introduction is in order," a shady character asked, whose voice was raspy and an undefined gender, "According to the residents, the princess is no ditz."

"Quite literally the sweetest maiden of them all," he commented, fixing his bow tie, "As she is the princess of the Candy Kingdom."

"Which brings to question," the shady character, concealed under a cloak, asked the young man "why is there no king or queen ruling the kingdom?"

"There must be some condition in her royal contract that keeps her in power," the teen said, "something different from the other contracts we've seen."

"Hmm," bringing out a wrinkly, sharp-nailed hand, the man reached for his chin under his cloak and scratched while he pondered, "How about marching into town on a fleet of disco-potomuses with some alba-rockers?"

"Sounds good, but I want to lead on top of giraff-riffs with trum-parrots blaring out the-"

"HEY!" The teen was interrupted by an irritated shout from below, "Can you do your ominous plotting somewhere else?" a little worm cried out from a hole in the ground, "I have to catch the early bird tomorrow morning!"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry little slimy thing," the teen apologized, "We'll leave this instant."

The two beings strolled down the hill, agreeing to turn in for the night and rest for tomorrow. At the very top of the hill beheld the entire Candy Kingdom in sight, with its sea of cotton candy trees and candy palace standing firm, along with two sitting gumball guardians idly blowing out bubbles into the night sky. Sharing this scenery was a lone tree house, with lights still illuminating the interior…

-A treehouse so rad, it can only be defined as 'mathematical'-

"Haha, did you see the look on the Ice King's face when we threw that octopus at his face?" a young boy in his early teens said.

"Heh, naw I couldn't. The octopus was busy kissing his face for me to see," a yellow dog, anatomically different from regular dogs, said to the boy as he handed him some warm milk, "Here's your milk."

"Thanks dude," the boy said as he received the cup, "That octopus must've been the only person the Ice King got a kiss from aside from his mom."

"Heh, probably," the dog said, waiting for the boy to finish his milk so that he could take it back to the kitchen.

"So Jake, how many times does that make it today?" the boy asked, having half finished his milk.

"Make what?" Jake asked.

"The times we've saved Princess Bubblegum from the Ice King?" the boy said before guzzling down the rest of his milk.

"Hmm, I lost count after forty-nine, but today probably makes it fifty."

"Think the princess will throw us another big party tomorrow?" Finn asked, handing the cup to Jake.

"Doesn't she always?" Jake joked.

"Heh, I suppose so," Finn said as Jake walked towards the stairs. Before Finn retreated into his sleeping bag, he had an idea and reached for a pillow.

"Hey Jake! Think fast!" Finn shouted as he hurled the pillow at Jake.

"Huh?" Quickly, Jake ducked before the pillow connected with his face, hitting the wall with a loud crack, "Hey! No roughhousing before bed!"

"Aw, c'mon Jake. Just one pillow fight before bed?" Finn begged as he reached for another pillow.

"Hmm, well, I suppose so," Jake said as he put aside the cup on the floor, "But only one and it's bed time Finn."

"That's okay with me," Finn said turning to the pillow, "Okay dude, you've been waiting for this rematch for weeks now. Don't give up, no matter what."

Jake pulled his pillow out of the hole Finn made in the wall and spoke to the pillow as well, "Alright, listen up. He's back to reclaim his title. You may be the champ, but so was he, so don't let your guard down, got it?"

The two set their pillows on the ground, waiting for the match to start. Suddenly, the two pillows animated themselves and walked towards each other, ready to fight. Folding their corners to mimic hands and arms, they awaited the ring of a bell to start the fight. And ring it did.

Both pillows lunged themselves at the other, fighting hard as both pulled off their best moves against the other. Headlocks, suplex flips, cheap shots in the gut, karate kicks, and every other fighting maneuver in the book. The boy and dog cheered the two combatants on as they waged their title match in the center of the room.

"Fluff 'im up, Mallow! He's nothing compared to you!" Finn shouted as Mallow body slammed onto the other pillow.

"Knock the cotton out of him, Fluffalo!" Jake cheered as Fluffalo roundhouse kicked Mallow.

Fluffalo was on the ground, struggling to get up as Mallow was closing in for the pin. Suddenly, out of desperation, Fluffalo drew a dagger. Mallow stepped back in surprise and Finn and Jake held their breath in shock. Getting up and treading towards his opponent, Fluffalo took a few good swings at Mallow before he finally got a cut in.

"Foul play! Foul play!" Finn shouted.

Finally, before Fluffalo could finish off Mallow, Jake intervened, pinning Fluffalo to the ground with his foot and lifting up Mallow by the hand.

"Fluffalo has been disqualified due to violating the 'No weapons' rule. Mallow has reclaimed his title as the pillow fighting champion!"

"Whoo!" Finn cheered as he took Mallow out of Jake's hand, "you were awesome dude."

"I expected better from you," Jake said disappointingly to Fluffalo, watching it walk down the stairs in shame. "Alright Finn, you had your pillow fight. Time to get some sleep."

"Ha ha, okay," Finn said as he placed his pillow next to him. "Don't worry man, it's only a flesh wound. You had much worse encounters with the cushions downstairs."

"Goodnight Finn," Jake said as he blew out the candle in the room.

"Night Jake," Finn said as Jake walked down the stairs.

"Hmm, I wonder what kind of party Bubblegum has in store for us tomorrow?" the boy asked himself as he tucked himself in his sleeping bag, soon drifting off into slumber.

Little did the human boy know that tomorrow would be the beginning of one of his greatest adventures yet…

…

"Gweep. Gwop. Gweep. Gwop," a little green worm uttered as it wiggled its way onto the bed.

Before the worm got any further, it was stopped by a standing pillow. Clearly, the pillow knew of Finn's well established 'no worms on the bed' rule and Mallow was a handy enforcer of it, keeping them off of the bed while Finn sleeps at night. After a quick stare, the worm knew he wasn't wanted and turned around to wiggle its way back down, bearing a sad face. Mallow retreated to Finn's side and laid himself down on his back to rest as well.

That was it folks, you've just read my first chapter. Please be a good sport and review. I get my motivation from reviews so if you want me to hurry up with the next chapter, hit that review button and say anything you like about the chapter, or give helpful criticism, or both. And now, time for a preview of the next chapter.

_**Next Chapter: Matthew, the man with the Romantic Feet.**_

"_Thank you, once again, for rescuing me from the Ice King."_

"_Hey, don't sweat it. Oscar was a big help too."_

"_Who?"_

"_The octopus who kissed the Ice King?"_

"_Look at the way he dresses. Fancy clothes, awesome hat, sexy hair."_

"_So? I have all of that too!"_

"_Wait, you mean you have hair under that hat?"_

"_Uh…I don't remember. But that's not important!"_

"_Finn, there's something I never told you about."_

"_Is it important?"_

"_Yes, especially since _he_ made his debut in my kingdom."_

"_Sweet maiden Bubblegum, whilst thou allow me to take your hand in marriage?"_

"_I'm so sorry, Finn."_

Stay tuned for the next chapter! R & R everyone!


	2. Matthew, the Man with the Romantic Feet!

Hey everyone! I'm back with that chapter everyone was waiting for! I'm glad you all love the story so far and I'm really glad with all the favs and reviews I got, so, as a special treat, I made this chapter very long, so make room in your schedule to read this chapter because it is one of the longest I have ever written.

Oh yeah, disclaimer. I don't own "Adventure Time". I don't even have a Finn hat.

**Chapter 2 summary: **Finn and Jake are having an awesome party. While Princess Bubblegum is getting prepared, Finn and Jake retell their adventure into the Ice Kingdom. However, during a moment between Finn and the princess, a strange man makes an appearance…

~Matthew, the man with the Romantic Feet~

The Candy Kingdom, where the roads are paved out of chocolate and the houses are made out of gingerbread. A sugary scent assails the nostrils of all who set foot in the domain, courtesy of the syrup flowers decorating the kingdom as well as the cotton candy trees bordering the land. Even the citizens themselves were mutations of candy, each one a varying type of sweet. From lollipops and gumballs, to ice cream and taffy, the entire kingdom was like Willy Wonka's personal heaven.

However, the entire town was quiet, reeking of a ghost town, for that everyone was inside the castle…

"This party is off the hook!" Finn exclaimed.

All of the townsfolk as well as a boy and his dog were assembled within the foyer of the candy palace. They were all celebrating the return of their princess, who had been recently rescued by Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. Finn was a regular human boy with a blue shirt, navy shorts, green backpack, black shoes, and, his most defining feature, his white hat which seemed to wrap around his head, completely blanketing any lock of hair he might have. Jake was a yellow dog, who looked more like a potato with limbs and a mouth, with a very short snout, small ears, and eyes an inverted black and white. These two were a renowned duo in a small part of the Land of Ooo for their good deeds, striving to be great adventurers and helping people out with their problems. However, instead of adventuring today, they were enjoying a big party the candy people had thrown for them.

"Alright Finn, it's your turn to play 'Pin the tail on the rhino'," a big cupcake man told Finn.

"Oh, alright," Finn replied, putting aside his fruit punch on the table.

Finn was handed a little pin with a small tail on it as he was blindfolded by the cupcake man, literally known as Mr. Cupcake.

"Alright Finn, do your best," Mr. Cupcake said before pushing Finn towards his target.

Finn waltzed towards his target, the audience cheering him on as he felt the pressure get to him. Beads of sweat began to drip from his side with each step he took.

"You're almost there, Finn!" a little chocolate egg spoke out.

"You're leaning a bit low, Finn!" Mr. Cupcake shouted.

"Am I close?" Finn asked, now sweating in waterfalls.

"You're almost there!" a chocolate covered strawberry said.

Finally, after several agonizing minutes, Finn managed to pin the tail on the picture of the rhino. Finn removed his blindfold, now deluged in sweat, as he looked upon his achievement. However, he was met with not a perfect shot, not a feeling of accomplishment, but rather the face of a very angry rhinoceros. Huffing out of its snout and scratching the ground with its hoof, Finn felt that there was only one appropriate course of action.

"WAAAHHHH!" Finn yelled, running across the room as the rhino gave chase. "Jake! Help me!"

"Calm down, Finn, it's just a game" Jake said, concentrating on the dartboard as he aimed with a hummingbird.

Ignoring Finn's plea, Jake let loose a hummingbird. It whizzed in the air before hitting the dartboard in the center, which was just a picture of a bull.

"Gah! I was really close that time," Jake complained.

"Jake! A little help, buddy?" Finn continued to yell as he hopped from table to table to deter the rhino. The rhino followed Finn on top of the tables as well, which, oddly, did not collapse under the beast's weight.

"Eye of the lion…" Jake muttered, lining up another bird.

With a skilled fling, the hummingbird landed its beak in one of the bull's eye.

"Rhombus!" Jake cheered, lifting his arms in achievement, "Uh oh, it's bleeding…"

"It's okay, Jake! I got it!" Finn said on top of the rhino, trying to control the wild beast. "Whoa, my steed, whoa! I said 'whoa' you doofus!" with a strong punch to the back of the head, the rhino decided to give control to the human boy, submitting to his overpowering rodeo skills.

"Nice wrangling, Finn," Mr. Cupcake said as the rest of his audience walked closer.

"Thanks. Say, any idea when Princess Bubblegum is going to show us her big surprise?" Finn asked.

"The princess von't be out for another five minutes," Chocoberry said.

"I wonder what's taking her so long?" Jake asked, done with the bleeding 'dartboard'.

"She wanted to look special for this party, so she's probably picking out a nice dress," Mr. Cupcake said.

"Man, girls always take so long to get dressed," Jake complained.

"What are we supposed to do for five minutes?" Finn asked.

"Oh! I know!" a little chocolate egg said, "Finn, Jake, tell us about how you rescued the princess from the Ice King?"

A resounding agreement waved through the nearby candy people as they circled Finn and Jake, very interested in hearing about their adventure.

"Alright, alright," Finn said, dismounting the rhino as he sat down on the floor, the rhino also being tame and sitting down as well.

"Finn, you sure you can handle storytelling?" Jake asked.

"Of course, dude. All I have to do is remember everything we did yesterday. It's not like I need an extensive vocabulary and years of language study to tell a good story."

"I think you just insulted half of the readers here…" Jake muttered silently.

"Ok, this rescue was different from our usual ones…" Finn started.

_We decided to pay a visit to Stan and his family and maybe say hello to our old friend the jiggler, when suddenly, an arctawk flew over to us with a letter in his feet._

_"Caw!" the bird said, and it dropped the letter in my hands. Without a word, the icy bird flew back to where it came from, the ice kingdom. I immediately sensed trouble brewing and unrolled the paper. To my surprise, it was a letter from the Ice King!_

_'Oh no! Vas it an invitation of some kind?'_

_Yes, it was, Chocoberry. The letter said the Ice King had kidnapped Princess Bubblegum again and he was waiting for us at his palace in the ice kingdom. I told Jake about the kidnapping and showed him the letter. As soon as he finished reading it, he knew there was no time to lose and-_

_'There's no time to lose!'_

_Uh, Jake? I'm telling the story here._

_'Oh, sorry, I just thought some co-narration would help tell the story better.'_

_Huh. Actually, that would help. Okay, just say your lines when they pop up, okay? So, where was I…?_

_Oh yeah. Jake knew there was no time to lose and super sized himself so that we could make it to the ice kingdom as quick as possible._

_It was obvious that the Ice King had set some sort of trap because none of the ice monsters tried to stop us once we entered the ice kingdom. However, that didn't stop me because I knew Princess Bubblegum was in danger and I would stop at nothing to get her back. It didn't matter how far we'd have to go, if the princess depended on me, I'd-_

_'Finn. Watch the exposition there.'_

_Oh, uh… right… erhem!_

_Anyway, we finally made it into the Ice King's lair and he had done some serious remodeling. The whole place was spacious like some sort of arena. And who was laughing at us when we entered? The Ice King. He had poor Princess Bubblegum locked in a big ice cage and that made me mad. I drew out my sword, ready to fight the Ice King, but he had other ideas._

_'Hey Finn, I'm gonna imitate the Ice King for you. Er-Hem!'_

_'So, you've come to meet your doom, foolish boy and dog?'_

_And I said, Let Princess Bubblegum go, you big nerd! Or do I have to shave your hideous beard?_

_'Oh! You dare mock my beard? I'll destroy you for that! But rather, instead of fighting you myself, I'll have someone else do it for me.'_

_And I said, oh? Someone nerdier than you?_

_'No! I've been working on this monster for weeks, and now that I've perfected the spell, I'll unleash him upon you and watch him beat the crud out of you!'_

_'And I said, so that's what the letter was for! You brought us here just to let some goon of yours fight us?'_

_I followed up with, bring it on! I'll take anything you throw at me!_

_'Very well, boy! You've asked for it. Razamafoo, hamazalee, blah blah blah words I can't be bothered to repeat! Zasham!'_

_I watched a pile of snow form before me and it began to take shape. I knew it was going to be another snow monster, but this one had sticks and rocks as well as a carrot and a hat. Finally, the monster emerged as a snowman! But it wasn't a very big snowman, heck, it wasn't even bigger than me, but barely. Unlike his other monsters though, this one was able to talk too._

_'Meet Fred!'_

_"'Sup", he said._

_'While I could just freeze you two and toss you in the nearest canyon, I find this a much more entertaining way of eliminating you two. Once my monster gets rid of you, I'll wed Princess Bubblegum and dance on your graves! Whatever happens after that, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.'_

_And I was like, you spent weeks working on this guy? Even I can make a better snowman than this repulsive thing._

_And then suddenly, the snowman fired an icicle out of his mouth! I narrowly avoided it, but it caught me off guard and made me realize that this may be a worthy adversary. Too bad he kept annoying me with facts and junk._

_"Did you know that water expands as it freezes, he said. It can ruin your cups if you put them in the freezer."_

_I knew that me and Jake might have a chance to beat this guy if we worked together, but the Ice King also had someone else prepared for Jake._

_'Don't worry Finn, this guy is no match for my powers!'_

_'I don't think so, dog! I've got another fight for you!'_

_Out of a hole in the wall, a small and cute ice cat walked out. It stood by the snowmans side awaiting the Ice King's next command._

_'Did you spend weeks working on that monster too?'_

_'Nah, I just found it outside and took care of it.'_

_Alright Jake, I said, I'm gonna take the snowman, you take on the ice cat. First one to finish his fight beats up the Ice king!_

_'Alright Finn. Good luck, and try not to get too jacked up.'_

_And so, me and Jake began our fight against a deadly snowman and a dangerous ice cat. The snowman had various deadly powers like making icicle claws, ice breath, exploding rocks, and a laser nose. He was a tough opponent alright, but I didn't give up because Bubblegum's rescue was the most important thing to me and I wasn't going to lose. My punches didn't work on him as it just makes my hand get frostbite and my sword cleans through him but he just puts himself back together. But I still didn't give up, even when the Ice king taunted me. It was really hard keeping focus on the battle while Jake was fighting the ice cat and the stupid snowman dropping useless facts on me._

_"Did you know cold water is lighter than hot water," he said. And I was like, stop learning me stuff!_

_When he nicked my hat, I had to retreat from the battle and analyze the situation. Jake thought so too as he was getting exhausted in his fight._

_'Dude, the little cat can fight!'_

_I'm not doing so hot either, I said, how are we supposed to win?_

_'Ahahahah, just give up boy and dog! And do me a favor and jump out the window while you're at it.'_

_However, the snowman actually gave me some useful piece of information this time._

_"Did you know a tsunami happens whenever a large chunk of ice falls into the ocean," he said._

_I was reminded of this secret technique me and Jake had been working on for a week, but we never had to use until now. But I figured it might be the ticket we need to win the fight._

_Jake, I told my buddy, it's time to pull off our secret move!_

_'What? Are you nuts? We haven't finished practicing yet!'_

_Jake, I said, it's now or never!_

_So Jake walked behind me, getting into position, as I grabbed his arms and legs. I swung him hard as he went overhead, and just as he was heading towards the ground, he supersized himself as big as he could, creating a massive impact on the ground. I called it the Super Duper Uber Awesome Hamma Slamma of Awesomeness. The attack shook the entire mountain but unfortunately the snowman and the ice cat evaded our attack. But the Ice king was really mad about it._

_'Hey! What are you trying to do? Split my palace in half?'_

_As if on cue, the entire palace began to shake even more. Cracks began to surround the room coming from the center of impact we made on the floor. And before we knew it, the entire room, nay, the entire palace shattered into a million pieces!_

_We all screamed as we fell down the icy abyss. Me, Jake, the annoying snowman, the ice cat, the Ice King, and Princess Bubblegum, who was still in the cage can you believe that, all regained consciousness moments later on top of large ice platforms floating out into the ocean. I saw Princess Bubblegum a few yards away, but before I could run my way towards her, that annoying snowman popped out of the water in front of me and climbed onto the ice. He still wanted to fight me but I had to reach the princess before the Ice king did. Unfortunately, the Ice king was already conscious before me, he was flying in the air with his beard, and was getting real steamed at what me and Jake had done to his palace._

_'Stupid boy! Idiotic dog! I'd curse harder if it weren't for the K+ rating! Look at what you have done to my palace! My home! I… I… I can just rebuild it with my ice powers… but still! My palace!'_

_It's your fault for making me fight this stupid snowman guy, I said._

_"Did you know snowmen are usually built with two spheres instead of three in Japan," he said, and I replied with, SHUT UP!_

_'Fred! Finish this fool off! Snowball! Destroy that dog!'_

_So I found out that the snowman's name was Fred and the ice cat's name was Snowball. It wasn't important, but I heard Jake's voice behind me and saw Jake and Snowball about to fight again._

_'You wanna settle this dog versus cat style?'_

_However, the cat seemed to have lost interest in the fight._

_"Nah, I have to go back home and prepare dinner for tonight," the cat said, "I've got a date tonight and I've wasted enough time with this lummox of a king."_

_'Hey! Where are you going? You can't disobey the Ice King!'_

_"Uh, yes I can," the cat continued to say, "You're just a sociopathic nerd who can't find himself a pretty girl and wastes his time playing MMO's with his other nerd "friends"."_

_'…You didn't have to be so honest about that.'_

_While the two of them argued, I noticed a wiggling thing poking out of the ice. Dipping into the cold water quickly, I picked up a small little octopus and my cunning plan was already growing in my head._

_Hey Ice king! I yelled, Pucker up!_

_I threw the octopus square in the face and the Ice king tried to remove the cute little sea creature from his face. While he was struggling, I took the chance and made my way to the princess until the stupid snowman blocked my path._

_"No way, we have a fight to finish," he said to me._

_I had enough of him and his stupid little trivia so I pulled out my sword, ready to finish him off._

_"Oh really?" He said, "Like that's going to work?"_

_I smirked and raised my sword into the air, and, with all my might, I struck the sword deep into the ice platform, causing it to split and sending the snowman drifting off into the ocean._

_"Hey, this isn't fair," he complained, "come over here and fight me like a real man! Or a real snowman! Whichever one makes me win!"_

_I quickly hopped over the ice platforms, making my way towards the cage Princess Bubblegum was in. She was still unconscious when I got there but I wasted no time and started hacking away at the cage. It gave in easily and I quickly rushed towards the princess. I held her in my arms and called out her name as she began to stir. She weakly called out my name and I answered her with assurance of her safety. When she came to, she hugged me, enveloping me in her sugary scent as my hands rested on her back, sifting through that silky pink hair of hers. She whispered sweet thanks in my ear that would-_

_'Er-Hem! Exposition, Finn.'_

_Oh, uh…right…_

_…_

_So, yeah. The princess was safe. …erhem!_

_Anyway, I knew that we had to leave because that octopus wasn't going to hold on to the Ice king for long, so I rushed ourselves out of the cage where Jake was waiting._

_'Come on guys, hop on my back and let's get out of here!'_

_No! I said, you'll sink into the ocean if you grow in size. We have to make it to solid ground before you can do that._

_We ran as fast as we could to land without falling into the water, hopping from platform to platform, before we finally reached solid ground. By the time the Ice king removed the octopus from his face, we were already over the mountains, heading back to the Candy kingdom to return the princess safely. After fighting annoying snowman and killer ice cats, destroying the Ice king's palace, and humiliating the Ice king with an eight armed sea creature, we managed to succeed in our adventure and bring Princess Bubblegum back home in the Candy Kingdom, and thus, saving the day._

"And that's the end of our story," Finn finished, returning the point of view to the writer.

"Oh, a fantastic escapade, Finn," Mr. Cupcake said as he clapped his hands.

"Do you think you'll meet that snowman again, Finn?" Chocoberry asked.

"Probably," Finn replied, "he was lucky I didn't have my flamethrower with me."

"You know Finn," Jake said, "considering how many times we venture into the Ice kingdom, we really should bring flamethrowers more often."

"Yeah, you're right," Finn agreed, "They really would've help against that ArctiCondor last week."

While Finn and Jake were talking, a peppermint candy person walked into the room through the castle door. He brought out a trumpet and played a short song that announced the presence of royalty.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a very nasally voice, "candy folk of all shapes and flavors, I present to you, the princess of the candy kingdom, Princess Bubblegum."

Behind the castle doors emerged the princess. The princess was a pale shade of pink, akin to her name 'bubblegum' and her pink-purple hair was extremely long, reaching close to her feet. She was in a different attire from her normal long pink dress, this time she wore a pretty white dress with a very wide pannier skirt with pink and purple frills, purple pouf sleeves, white and purple ballerina shoes and her traditional golden tiara with a blue gem at the tip. This was also her mallow tea ceremony get-up, but the dress really suits any special occasion. Finn stared at her, dumbfounded and at a loss for words, for that she looked exceptionally prettier than before. Of course, he'd never express these feelings out loud, but he was very poor at hiding them and anyone could tell Finn harbors feelings towards Princess Bubblegum. In fact, he was staring at her with a little drool coming out the corner of his mouth right now.

"Dude," Jake said as he nudged Finn with his elbow, breaking his trance, "keep it together, the princess is looking at us right now."

Finn shook his head, getting it together as he wiped his mouth, as Princess Bubblegum began her speech.

"Citizens of the Candy Kingdom," she started, "we are gathered here today to celebrate Finn and Jake's fiftieth rescue of me. Though young and adolescent, they have proven to be righteous and reliable heroes, willing to face down any challenge before them. Finn, Jake, come on up here!"

The audience cheered at Finn and Jake, with Finn modestly making his way towards the princess as he tried to hide his blush. Jake ushered Finn to go before him, since he was the prime player in the rescue. The two took their place next to Princess Bubblegum on top of the stairs as the candy folk continued to applaud.

"It's an honor to be up here," Jake said, putting a hand over his heart, "…again."

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for throwing us this awesome party," Finn said, trying to keep himself together.

"No problem," Bubblegum said as she patted Finn's shoulder, causing him to change a shade of red, "Thank you, once again, for rescuing me from the Ice King."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Jake said, "Oscar was a big help too."

"Who?" Bubblegum asked.

"The octopus who kissed the Ice King?" Jake replied, "Oh yeah, you were still unconscious."

"We actually ran into him on the way here," Finn said, "He was angry about the whole ordeal, but would forgive us if we brought him to the party too."

"He's over there rolling around in the punch," Jake said, pointing to an octopus squirting red stream into the air.

Many of the candy folk spat their punch out of their mouth while others wrung their faces in disgust, sticking their tongues out.

"Ew!" Finn said as well, "I was drinking that stuff, dude!"

"Don't worry," the octopus, Oscar, said, "I'm high in potassium and phosphorous!"

"Anyway Finn," Bubblegum continued, "You've always been on the lookout for me whenever I get in trouble. Where would I be without you?"

"Probably knitting the Ice King a new robe," Jake answered.

"To show my appreciation, I've arranged a special surprise for you two in honor of your fiftieth escapade."

"Algebraic!" Finn exclaimed, "When do we get it?"

"We're still preparing it for you, but I promise it'll be, how you would say, 'mathematical'."

"That sounds awesome!" Finn exclaimed, jumping around, "I can't wait for our surprise!"

"I'm sure you can't," Princess Bubblegum said as she waved a motion to a lollipop person across the room, "but for now, I want to do something with you."

"Huh?" Finn stopped his jumping, thinking he heard right.

"Cue the music!"

On her command, the entire room began to dim as a large disco ball emerged from the ceiling. A festival of lights began to dot around the room as they moved along the walls slowly. A sweet and humble melody began to play as the candy people decided to partner up and start slow dancing.

"Finn," Bubblegum asked, "it would please me if you would dance with me."

"Wha- what! I can't do that. I mean, I can't dance. I- I…" Finn stammered, being asked so suddenly and by a person he has feelings for.

"Finn, please. Dancing with the royal heir is an old tradition to those deemed worthy by the royal family," Bubblegum explained, "And I've deemed you worthy of sharing the dance floor with me."

"Dude," Jake said, "You gotta dance with her. It's a once in a life time opportunity."

"But, I can't dance." Finn continued to complain.

"Finn, you're not afraid to dance," Jake explained, "you're afraid to dance with Princess Bubblegum."

"But, still, I can't dance."

"Finn, dancing isn't about skill, it's about feeling the music in your feet, and letting them hum to the music."

"Is it that simple?" Finn asked.

"Yeah. What are your feet telling you to do right now?"

"Uh…" Finn looked at his feet, and surely, they were fidgeting slowly to the melody of the song that was playing.

"If you don't do this, you'll dishonor Princess Bubblegum and look like a huge fart to her," Jake said, turning Finn towards the princess.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, he mustered up his courage and spoke to the princess.

"Alright Princess," Finn said, holding back any hesitation he had in his voice, which made him sound a little monotonous, "I'll dance with you."

"Wonderful," the princess said, clapping her hands together, "to the dance floor!"

Bubblegum grabbed Finn's hand, which caused his heart to beat faster, as they walked down the flight of stairs. Jake laxly rested his shoulder on a gumball plant as he watched the two walk towards the floor. In his mind, he commented on how Finn was growing up and would eventually need 'the talk' like his parents did with him. When the two reached the floor, Bubblegum rested her hand on Finn's shoulder while she took the other one in her hand. Finn gulped as he reached for Bubblegum's back, remembering the time he watched two mantises dance before the other bit the guy's head off. With the two in place, they began their slow dance in the middle of the room as other candy people were dancing. Of course, there was a noticeable size difference between the two, but it wasn't big enough to impede the slow dance. Finn was very nervous, but he kept pace of the dance, also remembering the mantises dancing. Bubblegum was impressed with his steadiness and decided to let Finn lead the dance. Time seemed to slow down for the two, lost in the other as they continued their waltz in the room. So enamored by the other, they didn't realize that the candy folk stopped dancing to observe the two and their romantic play. Everyone, Mr. Cupcake, Chocoberry, Starchy, the snail, Oscar the octopus, Jake, and everyone else in the room, continued to watch the two as they spun circles in the room. No words were uttered, no movement was made, the hesitation and sweat had long faded from Finn's face as he stared into Bubblegum's eyes, who stared back with amorous sentiment. The scene, no, the atmosphere was simply perfect.

"Ah, young love," Jake commented, turning to the peppermint person, "speaking of love, where's Rainicorn?"

"Oh, she's in the back, helping with the big surprise you and Finn are supposed to get."

"Aw, I wanted to dance with…" Jake stopped as his sensitive ears heard something, "…hey, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" the candy person asked.

"It sounds like trumpets and guitar riffs," Jake said.

"You know, Finn," Bubblegum started, "through all of the times you've rescued me, I have to admit your childish demeanor and sense of righteousness has had a little effect on me over the months."

"It has?" Finn asked.

"Yeah. See, in the beginning, when you first saved me, I was still trying to comprehend how a twelve year old managed to beat the holy snot out of the Ice King."

"Heh, times sure does fly," Finn said.

"Even now, you still are the naive little boy I've come to know and love."

"Thanks, I- wait, what was that last bit?"

The princess merely chuckled at his reaction.

"Finn, I think you should know that, even as an heir to royalty, I have fallen-"

"Wait, hold that thought," Finn interrupted, "Do you hear that?"

Surely enough, there was some fanfare going on outside the palace, and it was getting louder, eventually louder than the music in the room. Eventually, the music stopped playing and confirmed suspicions that there was a ruckus outside. The lights returned to normal brightness as Finn headed towards the door. When he opened the door he was met with an astonishing scene.

Before him was an entire zoo of animals playing the loud music. Bipedal hippos in sleek white outfits and shades, dancing to a rhythmic beat, albatrosses with biker vests and mohawks stringing their guitars, green parrots flying around with trumpets in their claws, giraffes shaking their necks to produce a sound similar to maracas, and armadillos ratting on their drums. The scene in its entirety could be described as impractically random and meaningless, yet Finn was still amused by their overenthusiastic presentation.

"Whoa! There's a whole farm of party animals out here!" Finn exclaimed, wiggling his arms to their tunes.

The rest of the candy folk rushed to the door, huddling to see the commotion outside true to Finn's words. Jake, being behind the crowd, used his stretching powers to get a gander of outside.

"Wow, you're right Finn," Jake said, "Discopotamuses, Albarockers, Trumparrots, Giraffriffs, and Drumadillos. The works of a classic street parade."

"Let me see!"

Princess Bubblegum shoved her way through the crowd, which was easy as the candy folk pardoned themselves, and saw the scene as well. Unlike the others, however, she wasn't as amused but rather concerned.

"Oh no…" Bubblegum muttered, "Could this be…?"

"Princess Bubblegum, you arranged an animal parade for us!" Finn yelled as he greeted the animals.

"No, Finn. This wasn't the surprise I had arranged for you," the princess explained.

"Oh? Then, who are these guys?"

Upon his words, the fleet split in the middle to allow a shady character walk through. Once he was yards away from the boy and the other candy folk, he spoke.

"Trumpet!" he demanded in a very scratchy voice.

A trumparrot flew down to him at his command and held out its trumpet for the old person to grab. The shady character tried to reach for the trumpet, but apparently, his eyesight was rather poor and could not perceive the trumpets location. The trumparrot tried to hand the shady person his trumpet, but instead of the trumpet, the old man grabbed the parrot. The parrot gave off a loud "Squawk!" as it dropped its trumpet. Licking his lips, the cloaked man blew into the parrots tail feathers, producing a similar trumpet sound out of the parrots mouth.

"We are here today to introduce ourselves to the Candy Kingdom," the cloaked man said, sounding like he could hack a loogie at any moment, "We hail all the way over from the Dancing Kingdom. Our Prince, Prince Matthew, a.k.a. the Man with the Romantic Feet, would like to meet your princess."

"A Prince?" Bubblegum exclaimed.

"Meet the princess?" Finn questioned.

Bubblegum retreated from the crowd, stepping backwards in horror.

"Princess Bubblegum?" Jake asked, noticing her trying to sneak away, "What's wrong?"

"This is very, very bad. I can't… I can't…" she continued to utter as she walked backwards.

"We introduce to you, Prince Matthew!" the cloaked man said, stepping away from the center of view.

Over the hills of the chocolate road, a man could be seen coming into view. The closer he came into view, one would realize he was actually standing on top of another Girraffriff in front of a whole parade of them. As he came over the hill, a fleet of red and blue trumparrots appeared, blaring out a catchy tune, presumably the Dancing Kingdom's theme. As the parade got closer, the man's details were clearer. He was being shaded by a large umbrella carried by a little worm. He was a tall man in his late teens, with silky black hair, red ribbon top hat, a handsome face, a three-buttoned tailcoat with a bowtie, sleek pants, and tap dancing shoes. A simple choice of clothing, but it did well in expressing the character of the man. Eventually, the parade arrived in front of the palace and the giraffriff lowered its head, allowing the fashionable man and the umbrella-carrying worm to walk on the ground.

"Greetings, hideous candy mutants," he said without a hint of disgust, "I am Matthew, Prince of the Dancing Kingdom, and I've come to see your princess."

As one would expect, Finn didn't react well when he heard this.

"Hey fancy pants!" Finn yelled, walking towards Matthew, "What business do you have with her?"

"Why, I merely want to speak to the fair maiden, of course," Matthew nonchalantly answered.

"Speak? Don't you mean, relate?" Finn said, pulling out accusations.

"I don't have to reveal my intentions to a stubborn boy," Matthew said.

"I'll show you stubborn!"

"We don't have time for this defecation," the cloaked man said, "Move aside little human."

"Oh yeah?" Finn asked, "And who's gonna make me?"

"I will if I have to."

"Oh yeahhhh?"

"Yeah."

"Oh yeahhhhhhhh?"

"Yeah."

"Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh beingunreasonablystubborn?"

"Is she here or not?" the frustrated cloaked man asked.

"What's it to you?" Finn asked, clearly putting on his best stubborn performance.

While this was going on, Princess Bubblegum had long retreated into her room, refusing to come out until she was ready. The peppermint person from before was knocking on her door, telling her about their visitor.

"Oh Princess Bubblegum, there's a man by the name of Matthew who wants to see you."

"Oh, uh. I'll be right there," she said from the other side of the door.

"Alright. I'll be waiting to escort you, dear princess," the peppermint said, propping himself against the opposite wall.

The peppermint was extremely loyal to the royal line. He resisted the eavesdropping temptation with every gram of sugar of his being. Such a feat was hard to do, especially after five or so minutes. Becoming fed up with the wait, the peppermint decided to knock again.

"Princess? What's taking so long?" he asked.

"Uh, just combing my hair a bit, that's all. I'll be right out."

The peppermint stepped back to allow the door to open. Very faintly, he heard the princess say something from the other side.

"Tell Finn, I'm sorry."

Meanwhile, Matthew and the rest of his parade decided to wait for the princess to reveal herself, since a certain human boy refused to disclose any information about the princess. Finn was sitting on the steps, contemplating, while he stared angrily at Matthew yards away, who was talking to several worms while holding a sock. His dog friend, Jake, eventually exited the castle and sat with Finn, clearly seeing Finn's impression of the man, which was poor.

"You alright, dude?" Jake asked.

"Who does that guy think he is?" Finn asked out loud, "He strides into town all fancy looking and expects immediate clearance to see Bubblegum."

"Geez, Finn, what's eating you?" Jake asked.

"A mosquito on my back that I can't reach," Finn said, turning his back to Jake to let him see the bloodsucker just under his backpack, "And that smooth guy, Matthew."

"He said he just wants to meet her," Jake said, plucking the bug off of Finn's back, "No need to get jealous."

"Hrmph!" Finn grunted, Jake feeding the mosquito to a nearby flytrap with a loud crunch, "It's the Ricardio incident all over again."

"What makes you think he wants to marry Princess Bubblegum?" Jake asked, "Ricardio was a threat because he was cynical, but I don't see anything evil about him."

"Are you kidding? He looks malicious!"

"Finn, I think you're over-suspicious of this guy," Jake said, taking a look at Matthew for himself, "He doesn't look evil at all. Look at the way he dresses. Fancy clothes, awesome hat, sexy hair. Those are qualities of an honest and well dressed man."

"So? I have all of that stuff too!" Finn retorted.

"Wait, you mean you have hair under that hat?" Jake asked, having never seen Finn without his hat.

"Uh… I don't remember. But that's not important!" Finn said, standing up, "He's up to something, I can tell. Why else would he come from a very faraway place like the Dancing Kingdom to 'see' Princess Bubblegum?"

"Hmm, can't argue with you there," Jake replied, putting a hand on his chin, "I've never even heard of a Dancing Kingdom. The only kingdoms nearby are the Ice Kingdom, the Cloud Kingdom, Lumpy Space, the Slime Kingdom, the Fruit Kingdom, and other ones hinted at from those Ice King episodes. I probably should go get a map of Ooo to look at them all. I'll be right back."

Jake walked off into the candy village, looking for a place that might sell maps. Finn was left to wallow in his envy, still believing that Matthew was up to no good. His train of thought was broken when he heard a faint hissing.

"Psst! Finn!" a voice silently whispered.

"Huh?"

Finn looked behind him, trying to see where the voice came from. He heard it from somewhere within the castle's foyer but did not see anyone in the large room. He stepped into the castle, curious as to who was calling him, until he felt a hand tightly grip his shoulder and turn him around, only to meet Bubblegum.

"Princess Bubblegum?" Finn said out loud, only to have Bubblegum's hand on his mouth.

"Shhh. I don't want Matthew to hear me," the princess pleaded, taking a quick look out the door to make sure Matthew didn't notice.

"What's the matter? Are you suspicious of Matthew too?" Finn asked.

"No, it's not that," Bubblegum answered.

"Are you scared to meet him?" Finn continued to ask.

"No, it's not that either," Bubblegum continued to answer, "Well, it sort of is, but-"

"You think he's evil?" Finn continued his survey.

"Just listen to me!" the princess said, heaving a sigh, "Finn, there's something I never told you about."

"Is it important?"

"Yes, especially since _he_ made his debut in my kingdom. I wasn't allowed to tell you about it due to it being a family secret, but I have given you clearance to hear my secret. You see, it is about my royal contract."

"Royal contract?" Finn asked, having never heard of such a thing.

"Yes. All entities of royalty have a royal contract that they must abide to if they want to stay in power over the kingdom. If I don't follow the royal contract and its conditions, I can be deposed and become a disgrace to the royal family."

"But what does the royal contract have to do with Matthew?" Fin questioned.

"You see, the thing is, if he ever decides to take-"

"Princess?" a charming voice from behind spoke.

Princess Bubblegum tensed up upon being discovered for that she knew who the voice was. She bit her lip and pleaded to the gumball guardians in her head that it wasn't Matthew.

"Hey! We're having a conversation, Matthew!" Finn shot.

So much for pleading.

"Are you, just maybe, the princess of the Candy Kingdom?" Matthew asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, causing Finn to steam.

Bubblegum gulped hard and slowly turned around to meet the prince, who was still shaded by the worm carrying an umbrella.

"Yes, Master Matthew, I am Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom," she said, trying to hold back her uneasiness.

"Oh ho ho! My word, you are the prettiest maiden I have ever laid eyes on!" Matthew said, eyeing her up and down.

"Eh heh heh, um, thank you, kind sir…"

"Hey Matthew!" Finn spoke out loud, "We were busy talking. So if you'll just excuse yourself…"

"Shoo, boy, the important people are talking," Matthew said, making a sweeping motion with his hand making Finn angrier, "Maiden Bubblegum, I have many things to say to you, but words don't do it justice when I say you're a sweet feast to the eyes and ears…and nose too."

"Eh heh heh, thank you for the sweet words Matthew. Um, but you said we had things to discuss?" Bubblegum continued to say, still trying to hide her nervousness.

"Don't listen to him, Bubblegum! He's evil I tell you! Evil" Finn continued to shout.

"My word, does the boy ever shut up?" Matthew asked, causing Finn to growl, "But you're right. We have important things to discuss. I wish to take this discussion outside, for I've an announcement to make."

Without resistance, Matthew grabbed Bubblegum's hand and made way for the outside, where the rest of the townsfolk had moved to after the party was over. While they paid no particular attention to Matthew, all eyes were on the two once the princess made the scene.

"Hideous candy mutants of the Candy Kingdom," Matthew started, "I have come to make an announcement."

"Hey! Leave the princess alone, fancy pants!" Finn said as he appeared before the townsfolk.

"Boy, do me a favor and shut up forever," Matthew said, turning to the princess, "Madam Bubblegum, the instant my eyes met yours, I've felt something that I have never felt before. I simply can't put it into words, so I'll express it for you."

A distance away from the crowd, Jake walked out of an alleyway with a scroll in his hand.

"Fifty four dollops for a frikkin map. What a scam. Huh? What's going on over there?"

Jake ran his way towards the crowd, just close enough to see Matthew kneel down on one knee.

"Sweet maiden Bubblegum," he said as he took Bubblegum's hand in his, "whilst thou allow me to take your hand in marriage?"

"WHAT?" Finn shouted, the rest of the crowd gasping in unison.

"A proposal?" Jake said, stretching his head out above the crowd.

"Are you serious? There's no way Princess Bubblegum would marry you, you slimy worm!" Finn shouted, insulting the dancing prince.

"Human boy," Matthew said through clenched teeth, not moving from his kneeling position, "I would still your tongue if I were you and let the princess answer the question."

"No way, José! The princess would never-"

"Finn! Silence!" Bubblegum said.

"But… Princess…?" Finn said, feeling a strange cold feeling loom over him.

...

...

"Matthew…" Princess Bubbleum began, "…I accept."

"Whoa!" Jake said out loud as the rest of the audience gasped again, "Twist ending!"

"Wow, I didn't think it would be that easy," Matthew said, getting up and raising his arm, "Fantastic! Today marks the unison of two kingdoms! There is much celebration to be had!"

The entire crowd cheered for that it was indeed a magnificent day. Their princess would be wed and the Candy Kingdom, with its ties to another kingdom, will become prosperous and better for the sake of the people living there. Everyone was happy.

Except for one boy.

"Princess…" Finn said weakly.

Princess Bubblegum turned to face the human boy, whose tears began to creep out of his eyes.

"Finn…" she said in a forgiving tone.

"What about the party…? What about the dance…?" Finn asked.

"…"

"Didn't any of that mean anything to you? Didn't I mean anything to you?"

"Finn, you have to understand…"

"Understand what?" Finn shouted, bringing the attention of everyone around him, "That you would prefer some fancy looking guy over a boy you've known for a long time?"

"But Finn, I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Finn yelled as he turned away, "I'm done with this kingdom. I'm done with adventuring."

"No. Finn!"

"I'm done with you, princess…"

Without another word, the boy dashed off into town, leaving a trail of tears in his path.

"Finn! Wait!" Jake yelled as he chased after his friend.

"…" Princess Bubblegum felt horrible. She had just betrayed the feelings of the boy she had come to love all because of an offer she couldn't refuse. As tears welled up in her eyes, she began to question which was more important; her kingdom or Finn.

"I'm so sorry, Finn…"

~**End of Chapter 2**~

Oh no! What has Princess bubblegum done? Why did she accept the offer? What will happen to Finn?

I really like this story and I've enjoyed writing it. So much so that I've put aside my other unfinished fics to focus on this one, so you better appreciate it! Show your appreciation by reviewing my story. Just leave a good comment, a critique or what can be improved in the story. Any review is accepted. Except for flames. They are not reviews. They just discourage me and slow me down. Don't like it? Don't review. On the other hand, review!

_**Next Chapter: The Secret of the Royal Contract.**_

"_I thought she was my friend."_

"_She is, Finn."_

"_The truth is, Princess Bubblegum doesn't want to marry Matthew."_

"_Then why'd she accept?"_

"_As much as I'd like to, I can't go against my royal contract."_

"_I knew the boy well during the time we hung out together. He is emotionally sensitive."_

"_Finn, you were right. Look at the map."_

"_I have my suspicions, too."_

"_Jake. What time is it?"_

"_ADVENTURE TIME!"_

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!


	3. The Secret of the Royal Contract

Hi guys. I know you have been waiting for this chapter for, like, forever. I apologize for the wait, but I have been busy with work and sickness, you know?

On a side note, I have tweaked the characters ages a bit. Finn is 13, Princess Bubblegum is 15, and Jake is 29. I had the events of this story take place a year ahead of the show so that I can mention characters and objects introduced in new episodes in between updates and stuff.

Oh, and also, be on the lookout for the snail. This chapter and the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Adventure Time, but I will own the DVD when it comes out, probably. Maybe.

**Chapter 3 summary:** Finn is having emotional problems after the events of the previous day. But a visit from a good friend may help turn that around.

~The Secret of the Royal Contract~

It had been a day after Matthew, the self-proclaimed 'man with the romantic feet', proposed to Princess Bubblegum, the princess of the Candy Kingdom. The entire kingdom had been busy for the past twenty-four hours, making preparations for the wedding, but most of the citizens were still in awe over the news and spent most of their time talking about it. The whole kingdom was so excited with anticipation over the news that everyone had forgotten about the party the other day. For one, the wedding meant the unity of two kingdoms, and goods and technology from both kingdoms would be shared with one another. This meant that the combined resources from both sides will establish a better living for both parties. Another reason discussion was hot was the very fact that their princess was going to be married. All of the candy people respected and adored the pink maiden and thought that she was lucky to be wed to a handsome man like Matthew. Much joy and celebration surged throughout the kingdom the more it was talked about, and everyone was happy.

Well, not everyone.

"Finn, where are you?" a voice resonated throughout the treehouse.

Of all the people related to the royal family of the Candy Kingdom, Finn, the human boy, was devastated by the marriage. Not only did he harbor deep feelings for the princess, but they had been friends for a long time. To have been betrayed like that, and so unexpectedly, caused severe emotional damage to the young boy.

"Finn, I gotta talk to you," Jake continued to speak as he searched the halls of the treehouse.

After a fruitless search of the west wing, he heard the faint sound of sniffing in another room. Walking up to it, he noticed a puddle of water seeping from under the door. Quietly stepping through the creaky doorway, he found dozens of tissues laying around on the ground and a puddle of water behind a box near the wall.

"Finn?" Jake asked.

"…what is it Jake?" a weak and sad voice spoke from behind the box.

"Hey Finn, I was thinking, maybe…" Jake was trying to think of a way to cheer Finn up, "…maybe we can go sledding in the Ice Kingdom?"

"…sledding is stupid," Finn rejected.

"Uh, okay. How about we go fight the Ice King?" Jake tried again.

"Why? He's not marrying Bubblegum," Finn said in a displeased tone.

Jake heaved a sigh, at a loss at how to turn his friend back to normal. He scratched the back of his head and tried to think of a way to cheer Finn up, without exacting vengeance on Matthew.

"Ok, you were right," Jake said, getting Finn's attention, "Matthew is a jerk and he wanted to marry Princess Bubblegum, but what can we do? Fighting Matthew will only make things worse and-"

"It's not Matthew that I'm upset about…" Finn interrupted.

"Huh? I thought you'd be crazy mad at him."

"I am…but I'm even more crazy madder at Bubblegum…"

"What? But you like her. How can you be-"

"She humiliated me in front of everyone. She denied our friendship for his hand in marriage. And my heart is all cold now because of her…"

Jake felt his heart strings tug at these words. This was a very different Finn he wasn't used to seeing. He felt weak and unable to help Finn in his dire time of need because he didn't know what to say or do. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to save Finn in time. But he had to try. He just had to.

"Well, maybe she had a reason?" Jake asked, trying to get Finn to see it from a different perspective.

"To make me look like a dork?" Finn replied darkly.

"Uh, no way! Princess Bubblegum would never do that!" Jake said, trying to fix Finn's perspective.

"Yeah, you're right."

"I am?" Jake questioned, surprised.

"She'd never do that. She'd also never marry a total stranger and abandon her best friend's feelings…"

"…sigh," Jake heaved. He had hit a dead end with Finn. Nothing he could say would get Finn to look in the other direction. Jake wanted to give up, but he wouldn't allow himself to. His friend needed him more than ever and he couldn't just abandon him here. Finn was making it really hard for Jake and it was borderline frustrating, but he knew it wasn't Finn's fault. The boy was emotionally damaged and was going through a difficult time. The least Jake could do was cheer him up. But the way Finn was, that might be all he'll be able to do.

"I thought she was my friend…" Finn said silently, but Jake managed to hear with his sensitive ears.

"She is, Finn," Jake replied.

"Then why did she betray me like that?" Finn asked.

Jake didn't have an answer as he had no idea as well. He knew Princess Bubblegum just as well as he did, maybe a little less because Finn and the princess hung out quite often. Why she accepted Matthew's hand in marriage was a totally out of character thing for her to do.

Come to think of it, Princess Bubblegum was acting a little weird when she saw Matthew, almost as if she didn't want to meet him.

"Yellow dog?" a robotic voice from behind the door spoke out, "Have you succeeded in locating creator?"

Through the doorway entered NEPTR, Finn's robot that he created to prank Jake months ago. NEPTR was a small robot, whose structure was very much a testament to Finns skill as a scientist. A microwave for a body, and also for the creation of hot delicious pies, a set of treads, a fork prong that serves as his throwing arm, and an old bent can full of wires with a face scribbled on it. However, NEPTR's real face was located on the side of the microwave, just above the arm. The tin can was purely aesthetic, even though it would fall off from time to time.

"Yeah, I have," Jake answered, "But watch out for the puddles of tears."

"I shall be cautious," NEPTR stated as he approached Finn while avoiding the puddles.

"…hey NEPTR…" Finn greeted from behind the crate.

"Creator, why do you persist in avoiding contact with your friends to wallow in sadness?" NEPTR asked.

"Because Matthew is a jerk and Princess Bubblegum betrayed me!" Finn replied harshly.

"Yikes, dude. Easy," Jake said, trying to calm him down.

"Canine," NEPTR spoke to Jake, "Creator is furious and cannot think straight. His processor must have been corrupted by recent events. Do you know of what happened?"

"Erm…" Jake mumbled. He didn't like speaking to Finn's robot, mostly because it still throws hot pies at him when he least expects it, but also because of the way it spoke. He couldn't understand how Finn was able to comprehend its way of speaking, but then again he did create it.

"Well, we were at this party. And then this guy from the Dancing Kingdom came by and asked Princess Bubblegum to marry him. But she said yes, and that really hurt Finn. So that's why he's all sad."

"Why would Creator care if a princess is getting married?" NEPTR asked.

"Well…" Jake leaned closer to NEPTR and spoke silently, "Finn has a crush on Princess Bubblegum, and they've known each other for a year now. So you see, that really hurt Finn, and he doesn't know why she said 'yes'."

"Hm…As a robot, I cannot comprehend human emotions like love and sadness," NEPTR said, "But there is something illogical about this marriage."

"You think so?" Jake asked.

Unbeknownst to the two, Finn had been listening closely to their conversation.

"Dog, do you have a map of the Land of Ooo?" NEPTR asked.

"Oh yeah!" Jake suddenly remembered, "I bought one yesterday and forgot about it. Let me go get it."

After Jake rushed out the door, NEPTR turned to the crate Finn was hiding behind and asked.

"Creator, I was wondering. Is emotion a hindrance? You seem to be rather distraught by your dilemma."

After a sniff, Finn slowly replied.

"…no NEPTR…having emotion is a defining trait of being alive."

"Even if it means having bad emotions like sadness? I'd think it'd be less detrimental having no emotions at all."

"But…there are good emotions as well as bad emotions. You can't just say you'd rather have no emotions without feeling emotions."

"But Creator," NEPTR said, confused, "I don't understand…"

"I'm back!" Jake said as he walked through the door.

"You found the map…?" Finn asked.

"Yeah. I took a look as I walked here. There is definitely something wrong with this marriage."

"There is?"

"Yeah. Come out from behind that crate so I can show you."

After a long second, Finn decided to leave the shield of the crate and towards Jake, who had the map sprawled on the floor. Jake noticed Finn's messy face, with flushed cheeks and dried up tears. It was a painful image to Jake, but Finn could wash it later. Right now, this was more important.

"Here we are, between the Candy Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom," Jake said as he pointed at a small spot on the map, "then here's the Nut Kingdom, the Fruit Kingdom, the Water Kingdom, Bufo's Wizard Training Manor," Jake continued as he directed his finger across the paper, "I don't see any Dancing Kingdom anywhere on the map. There really is something fishy about this marriage."

"Hmm," Finn muttered, "Jake, I think you got the wrong map."

"Huh?"

"Creator is right," NEPTR said, having also been looking at the map, "This is the discount map. The one you bought yesterday is down in the living room."

"…huh. Fancy that," Jake said as he scratched his head.

Suddenly, there was a tap on the window.

"What was that?" Finn asked.

Jake walked over across the room to peer out the window. To his surprise, it was his girlfriend Rainicorn, flying around outside with something urgent to tell him.

"Huh, it's my girlfriend," Jake said, somewhat surprised.

"What's she doing here?" Finn asked, getting up and walking towards the window to look.

"Beats me. Rainicorn rarely visits me."

From outside, Rainicorn spoke something to Jake that Finn couldn't understand. Jake nodded a few times before turning to Finn.

"She said she's got something important to tell us. C'mon! To the front door!" Jake yelled as he ran out the door.

As Finn ran behind him, NEPTR was left in the room, still pondering the definition of emotions.

"Good emotions…bad emotions…" NEPTR uttered.

After a long trek downstairs, the two finally reached the front yard of their tree house. Afterward, Rainicorn flew down from around the tree house as soon as she caught sight of them. Rainicorn was literally a half unicorn half rainbow hybrid with a foot long horn, an elongated torso, and rainbow colored stripes. She has a long yellow mane and short yellow tail and inverted black and white eyes much like Jake's. She mainly speaks Korean but she can understand other languages as well. Apparently, Jake can speak Korean too.

"Yo Rainicorn, what's up?" Jake asked as Rainicorn landed.

Rainicorn began speaking, but since Finn can't understand her, Jake would have to translate if it concerned him.

"(I've come with a copy of Princess Bubblegum's Royal Contract,)" she said.

"Whoa, really?" Jake said, astounded.

"What'd she say?" Finn asked.

"She said she has a copy of the Royal Contract," Jake said as he walked over to Rainicorn and found the scroll tied up under her mane.

Undoing the knot, Jake unfolded the paper on the ground. Upon doing so, the paper gave off a brilliant glow as it was opened. Amazed by the light, the trio began reading various bits of it out of line.

"Didn't Bubblegum say she was going to show you something like this?" Jake asked.

"Oh…yeah, she did…" Finn replied, feeling low and cold again.

"(Finn,)" Rainicorn began, "(I have something to say. I too am suspicious of Matthew as well.)"

"She said she's also suspicious of Matthew, like you," Jake translated.

"Well, whoop de doo. That's good to hear. It's not going to stop Princess Bubblegum from being married, now is it?" Finn said rather harshly.

"Hey Finn, calm down. You're acting like a jerkball," Jake replied to his rude comment.

"(The truth is,)" Rainicorn said, "(Princess Bubblegum doesn't want to marry Matthew.)"

"Whoa, really?" Jake said, surprised, "Finn, Rainicorn said Bubblegum doesn't want to marry Matthew."

"Then why'd she accept?" Finn shouted, taking the two aback, "Huh? Tell me why? Is it because she wanted to make me look like an idiot in front of the entire-"

Jake punched Finn in the face before he could go on. The full force of the fist managed to knock some sense back into Finn before he lost his mind.

"…thanks, I needed that." Finn said.

"No problem. That's what bros are for," Jake said as he withdrew his stretched arm.

"(You see,)" Rainicorn started, "(I have brought you guys this copy of the Royal Contract under Bubblegum's request.)"

"She says Bubblegum told her to bring this here," Jake said, pointing to the Royal Contract copy.

"(Finn, during the party yesterday, me and Bubblegum had a talk,)" Rainicorn said.

"She says you gotta listen because we're going into a flashback," Jake said.

* * *

_The sounds of a distressed princess filled the bright pink room, objects littered on the ground as well as tables turned over. The room was huge, as it was the princess's room. A large canopy bed with fluffy marshmallow pillows, a wide mirror desk decorated with makeup accessories, a large yellow drawer lined with pink icing, and several family photos hung on the wall and on the desks. Occupying the room was the princess herself and her friend Lady Rainicorn. While the princess was normally gentle and sweet…_

"_How can Matthew present himself now? Of all times?" the princess yelled as she flipped another table over._

…_agitation and distress had turned the princess into a disorderly table-flipping maniac._

"_(Bubblegum please,)" Rainicorn pleaded, "(You must calm down. Now is not the time to panic.)"_

"_You're right, huff," the princess said, picking up a table and a vase and setting them back up together, only to be overpowered by anguish and flipped over the table again. _

_It wasn't that the princess was distressed over Matthew's appearance, she was distressed over the complications it will cause, specifically if he tried to marry her._

"_Oh Rainicorn," Bubblegum said, exhausted from flipping over tables and sitting at her mirror table to rest, "What am I to do?"_

"_(Hmm, things will certainly get ugly if he's come here to ask for your hand in marriage,)" Rainicorn said, "(But maybe that's not what he's here for…?)"_

"_Oh, let's not fool ourselves, Rainicorn," Bubblegum responded, "Why would he come all the way from the Dancing Kingdom to here and not ask for my hand?"_

_Before Rainicorn could answer, there was a knock at the door._

"_Oh Princess Bubblegum," a nasally voice spoke, "there's a man by the name of Matthew who wants to see you." _

"_Oh, uh," Princess Bubblegum didn't really want to meet Matthew, but she couldn't hide from him. It was impolite. "I'll be right there."_

"_Alright. I'll be waiting to escort you, dear princess."_

_After the voice disappeared, the princess resumed speaking with her friend._

"_Ohh, how can I make Finn understand?" Bubblegum asked herself as she began pacing around the room._

"_(You can't simply say 'no' to Matthew?)" Rainicorn asked._

"_As much as I'd like to, I can't go against my Royal Contract," Bubblegum stated, "You know, the big important piece of paper under the castle?"_

"_(Oh right…)" Rainicorn remembered, "(Since he is a prince, you can't deny your hand to him.)"_

"_Exactly. And if he does ask for my hand in marriage, oh, I can't bear to think of what Finn will do."_

"_(I knew the boy well during the time we hung out together,)" Rainicorn said, recalling the episode where her boyfriend recovered the old translator he disposed of, "(he is emotionally sensitive.)"_

"_I know. I don't want to see him crash and burn," Bubblegum said, sitting back down in her chair and putting her hands up to her face._

"_(It won't be pretty, definitely,)" Rainicorn agreed, "(But, what if you showed him the contract?)"_

"_But Rainicorn," she said, raising her head up, "only those with a royal permit are allowed to see the Royal Contract."_

"_(Exactly. And you're the princess. You can give Finn a royal permit yourself.)"_

"_But what good will it do?" Bubblegum asked._

"_(At the very least, it will cushion the blow if Matthew does decide to marry you.)"_

_Bubblegum thought for a second, and Rainicorn did bring up a good point. Even if there was nothing she could do to prevent the marriage, she could at least make Finn understand why she had to do it. Or rather, why she couldn't say no. _

"_You're right. I should start working on signing a permit before it's too late," she said before she pulled a piece of paper and pen out of a drawer._

"_Rainicorn," Bubblegum spoke, "think you can get this permit into the royal files on the basement floor?"_

"_(Sure thing milady,)" Rainicorn said._

"_Ok, done," Bubblegum said, holding out the small yellow paper before handing it to Rainicorn._

"_(And what about Jake?)" Rainicorn asked._

"_Only Finn has to see the contract. Jake isn't important," the princess replied._

_Before Rainicorn could retort, another knock happened on the door._

"_Princess? What's taking so long?" the voice asked concernedly. _

"_Uh, just combing my hair a bit, that's all," Bubblegum said as she grabbed a nearby comb, "I'll be right out."_

"_(You have to go and meet him, Bubblegum,)" Rainicorn said as she put away the permit in her mane._

"_I know, it's un-princess-ly," Bubblegum said, stroking her hair with the comb, "I'll try to meet Finn first and explain the Royal Contract to him before meeting Matthew."_

_After a few quick swipes of the comb, Bubblegum got up and walked toward the door._

"_But if I run into Matthew first," she said as she reached the door knob, "Tell Finn, I'm sorry."_

* * *

"So," Jake said, "it's because of the Royal Contract Bubblegum had to say yes?"

Rainicorn nodded.

While Jake was translating the flashback, Finn was thinking very hard about the marriage and Bubblegum. He now knew that Bubblegum didn't want to marry Matthew, but she couldn't say no when he asked for her hand. Finn felt a mix of anger and distress as he stared at the Royal Contract, not reading it but rather staring at it, as if it was its fault.

"So, wait," Jake said, "If Bubblegum wrote a permit for Finn but not for me, why did you bring a copy of the Royal Contract for me and Finn to see?"

"(Well,)" Rainicorn said, starting to blush, "I sort of forgot you didn't have a permit, but I guess they can pardon you after the fudge incident.)"

"Hmph, yeah, the fudge incident," Jake said, almost growling, reminiscing of an old, bad memory.

"(Anyways, here's the line Finn needed to read,)" Rainicorn said, pointing to a line that read **'Condition 19: Laws of Marriage'**.

Catching Finn's attention, Finn closed in on the line and read it aloud.

"The princess is entitled to marry to a prince of a nearby kingdom before her 16th birthday. She _must_ be wed before this time. The only exception is if there are no princes in the surrounding kingdoms during the princess's generation. If the princess reaches the age of 16 before she is wed, the princess is then entitled to marry whomever she chooses."

"Hey, isn't Bubblegum's birthday within a month?" Jake asked.

"(Yes. She'll be 16 next month,)" Rainicorn answered.

"Wow, it's been that long?" Jake said.

"However," Finn continued reading, Jake and Rainicorn silencing themselves because they could see how serious Finn was, "the princess is also entitled to marry a hero she has deemed worthy enough to lead the kingdom."

Finn skipped to the next line.

"Even though the princess cannot refuse a prince's hand in marriage, she is allowed to postpone the wedding up until her next birthday. The princess may use this time to decide between two or more princes and/or to look over the prince's royal contract."

"(That's right,)" Rainicorn said, "(Princess Bubblegum is postponing the marriage for a month. She's trying to hold off the marriage as long as she can.)"

"She says Princess Bubblegum is holding back the marriage for a month," Jake translated, "Right before her birthday."

"So she really doesn't want to marry Matthew…" Finn said silently.

"(To be honest,)" Rainicorn started, "(I'm quite suspicious of Matthew as well.)"

"She says she finds Matthew suspicious, too," Jake said.

"(I always thought the Dancing Kingdom was on the other side of Ooo.)"

"Wow, you think so?" Jake asked.

"(I know so. My family once spent a vacation over there. I'm pretty sure I'd remember a trip to the Dancing Kingdom,)" she said.

"If you say so. I bought an extra large map of Ooo the other day to check where it was," Jake said, unaware that Finn had been listening.

"Jake," Finn said, "Go get that map. If Ooo is as big as I think it is, I'm pretty sure there'd be other kingdoms surrounding the Dancing Kingdom."

"Well, okay. But so what if other kingdoms surround the Dancing Kingdom?" Jake asked.

"Because think about it," Finn said, "why marry a princess all the way over here if there are princesses in other kingdoms near the Dancing Kingdom?"

"(Finn has a good point,)" Rainicorn said.

"Hmm, alright. I'll go look for that map. I'll be right back."

As Jake ran back inside the house, Finn resumed reading the Royal Contract.

"…if physical harm is done to the princess, the princess may force the prince through a trial to redeem himself…" Finn read.

"I'm back with the map," Jake said, giant scroll in hand.

Rolling up the Royal Contract before Finn was done reading it, Rainicorn put it aside to allow Jake to unfold the giant map. Not only was the map big, but very detailed with the landmarks and kingdoms. It was easy to identify the various kingdoms and places because of the detailed drawings.

"Finn, you were right," Jake said, "Look at the map."

On the other side of the continent was the Dancing Kingdom, present with a giant disco ball atop the castle. Surrounding the Dancing Kingdom were various other kingdoms like a Tree Kingdom, a Rock Kingdom, a Metal Kingdom, a Cat Kingdom, and such.

"You'd think that, with all of those kingdoms, at least one of those kingdoms would have a princess," Jake said.

"(I have my suspicions, too,)" Rainicorn said, "(When I visited there, I was most certain a Cat princess was ruling the Cat Kingdom.)"

"So then, why would Matthew come all the way across Ooo to marry Princess Bubblegum?" Jake asked.

The two sat in silence, thinking of a possible reason as to why Matthew would travel all the way across Ooo to marry Princess Bubblegum.

"And of all of the princesses here," Finn finally spoke, "why Bubblegum?"

Jake used to groan at Finn's ignorance over the whole marriage thing, but this time, he brought up a good point. Why choose Princess Bubblegum?

"This is all very fishy…" Jake said, "So fishy, I could practically smell the ocean from here."

After seconds of confused silence, Finn got up and retreated inside the treehouse, much to Jake's surprise.

"Hey Finn! Wait!" Jake said as he ran inside.

"(Should I come inside?)" Rainicorn asked before Jake ran up the stairs.

Before Jake continued on, he turned back to Rainicorn, who was at the door, and patted her face.

"It's too closed inside. Just wait here, we'll be out in a minute," Jake reassured.

"(Alright, don't keep me waiting too long.)"

With a nod, Jake turned back and followed Finn inside the tree house.

"Finn! Where'd you go?" Jake asked as he ran through the halls of the treehouse.

After a few minutes of searching, Jake found Finn in his bedroom, packing a suitcase full of clothes and bottles.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked.

"Packing," Finn replied, without turning around or stopping.

"To go where?"

"I'm going to the Dancing Kingdom."

"So you're going to- wait WHAT?"

"Yeah, I am," Finn said bluntly.

"Finn, do you have any idea how far the Dancing Kingdom is from here?" Jake asked, wondering if Finn was serious.

"Other side of Ooo, why?" Finn continued to reply nonchalantly.

Jake growled in frustration. Finn clearly did not know the dangers of trekking the entire continent of Ooo.

"Why are you going to the Dancing Kingdom?" Jake decided to ask.

"Because something is wrong with this marriage, and I'm going to find out what," Finn replied.

"What do you think you'll find over there?" Jake asked.

"Whatever Matthew might be planning. I'm going to find out what it is and you won't stop me," Finn finished as he closed the suitcase and his backpack.

"And you think you can make it in a month? Before the wedding?"

"A month is a long time. I'm sure I can make it to the Dancing Kingdom and back and stop this marriage from happening," Finn said as he walked out of the room, walking past Jake.

Outside, Rainicorn moved herself out of Finn's way as he walked out of the house. Jake quickly followed.

"Stop, Finn!" Jake yelled.

Finn stopped before he could walk any further, his back still facing Jake and Rainicorn.

"What is this all about, Finn? Is it about revenge?"

"(Jake, what is…)" Rainicorn sheepishly asked.

"No, Jake. It's not revenge," Finn said, his back still turned to them.

"Is it about love?" Jake asked again.

"No, not love," Finn said with a slight blush.

"Then what the heck is this all about?" Jake asked once more.

"I'm just…I'm…"

"Just what?"

"(Jake, be careful,)" Rainicorn warned, noticing some dark clouds rolling in up above.

"I'm unsure!" Finn yelled.

An uneasy mood swamped the scene as seconds steadily passed by, a cold breeze blowing from behind. Finn stood there, tightly gripping his suitcase, as his thoughts and emotions were mixed together. Unbeknownst to them, NEPTR had been watching the whole scene from the bedroom window and the definition of emotion continued to expand before it.

"Revenge…Love…Uncertainty…" NEPTR uttered.

"I don't…I don't know why I want to go to the Dancing Kingdom…" Finn said, head hung low, "I don't know why…"

"Is it because you want to make sure Matthew is the man he says he is? Or is it because you are worried about Princess Bubblegum?" Jake asked.

"I…I don't know…" Finn continued, "I guess…both…?"

"You just don't know, do you?" Jake said, walking over to Finn and wrapping an arm around him, "you just feel like you need to go there, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Finn answered.

"Well, you don't have to go alone. I'm coming with you too," Jake said, pointing a thumb at himself.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I can't let my bro go on an adventure alone."

"…sniff, thanks Jake."

"Now before we leave, I gotta get my stuff too," Jake said before he ran inside the house.

"I'ma help pack!" Finn said, running after Jake.

Inside the tree house, Jake had started packing his bag filled with essentials, like his violin, a picture of Rainicorn, a compass, a frying pan, a snail, a can of peanut butter, a laser pen, deodorant, scissors, an empty turtle shell, and other stuff Finn was handing him.

"Hey, uh, Finn," Jake asked, just before Finn handed him a dinosaur skull, "I'm packing stuff we need, not whatever's in the room."

"I know," Finn replied.

"So, do we need a dinosaur skull?" Jake asked.

After a second, all Finn could reply with was a simple shrug with his shoulders. Jake sighed and put the dinosaur skull away in the bag.

"I think I have enough junk here Finn," Jake said as he closed up the bag and pulled it around his back.

"Alright then, we're on our way to the Dancing Kingdom!" Finn shouted, clearly reinvigorated at the thought of adventure.

"Heheh, sure. But first I gotta say goodbye to my girlfriend," Jake said as he walked outside to meet his beloved.

"(So, going on another adventure?)" she asked him.

"Heh, yeah. You bet," Jake said with a rosy tint creeping onto his cheecks.

"(Just don't take so long, okay? You'll make me worry,)" Rainicorn said, sounding depressed.

"Aw, don't worry. We'll take a train there. It won't take long," Jake reassured, Finn noting the word 'train'.

"(Well, alright then,)" Rainicorn said, "(I'll keep an eye on Matthew while you two are gone, so Finn doesn't have to worry,)" Rainicorn said with a wink.

"Heheh, I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

"(Be careful, my love,)" Rainicorn said, kissing Jake on the forehead.

"You too," Jake said as Rainicorn lifted off into the air and towards the Candy Kingdom.

"Ok," Finn said, "I locked the front door and left a note for anyone who wants our business."

A paper, held to the door by tape, read, 'Out adventuring, be back in a month.' with the word 'back' misspelled.

"Awesome," Jake said.

"I also took some gold coins just in case we need the money," Finn said.

"Oh, we'll definitely need the money," Jake reassured.

"What for?"

"Oh, you'll see very soon," Jake said as the two started walking away from the house.

"Wait, Jake!" Finn said, "We can't go on without doing our usual motto."

"Eh, I suppose you're right," Jake said, turning around to face Finn.

"Jake. What time is it?" Finn asked, raising his arm with a balled fist, causing Jake to do the same.

"ADVENTURE TIME!" the two yelled as their fists bumped.

…

"Hey Finn," Jake said, "Have I ever told you about the Forever Train?"

* * *

Deep within a dark and humid room, sat a man wearing a tuxedo suit and a top hat with a red ribbon. In his hand was a glass of unknown purple liquids. In front of him sat a wall of computer screens, each one hooked up to worm-like tubes lined up to walls somewhere in the darkness of the room. As he stared at a particular screen, focusing on the human boy and his magical dog, he took a sip of his drink and pondered.

"Hmm," he said, "the horse rainbow abomination may have told them more information than they needed to hear. Whether or not that is because I cannot understand her, the boy and his dog are making their way to the Dancing Kingdom. This is bad."

With his free hand, he motioned to someone, or something, in the dark room.

"The boy and his dog must not be allowed to reach the Dancing Kingdom, understand?"

From behind the shadows, the person, or thing, nodded and bowed out before leaving the room.

He looked at the screen again as the boy and dog had long walked out of the camera's sight. He turned his eyes to a screen of Princess Bubblegum in the dining hall, looking depressed as she slowly ate her food. The man took another sip of his drink before setting it down.

"Sorry Finn, but I can't have another human interfering with our plans again," Matthew said as he clutched his fist.

"…"

"…"

"…Marceline…" he said with a snarl.

**~End of Chapter 3~**

And so begins Finn and Jake's adventure, to find out if Matthew is really the man he says he is. But it seems that there's more to Matthew than meets the eye.

Thank you all for the reviews, but I don't understand why some of my original reviewers have stopped reviewing. Please keep reviewing my story, whether you just want to say how much you like this story or if I can improve on some parts. Readers on this site tend to evaluate stories based on their chapters/reviews ratio, so it'd be a big help to review my story if you would. Thanks!

_**Next Chapter: All Aboard the Forever Train!**_

"_Have you been here before?"_

"_Once, when I was a pupster."_

"_The longest route is the blue line, but it's the most expensive."_

"_I'm going on my own journey BEAMO, to find out what it is robots are missing."_

"_Make sure my letters get to them, okay?"_

"_Sure thing milady."_

"_They always do this. It's 'Adventure' this, 'Adventure' that!"_

"_This time, we'll find them for sure."_

"_Everyone! Evacuate the train!"_

"_This train is gonna blow!"_

Stick around for the next chapter!


	4. All Aboard the Forever Train!

Hi everybody! Bet you didn't expect this chapter to come around so quick. Well, that's because I love all of you, and I feel that you deserve this while my Adventure time hype as at its peak.

Anyway, enjoy another chapter of Finn and Jake's Magnificent Adventure, and remember to be on the lookout for that snail!

Disclaimer: Adventure time isn't mine. If it was, this would be a movie.

**Chapter 4 summary: **Finn and Jake board the Forever Train, while other events happen back home. However, the relaxing ride on the train soon turns treacherous as a mysterious enemy poses a threat.

~All Aboard the Forever Train!~

Somewhere in the Land of Ooo, existed the legendary Forever Train. The stories behind this phenomenon of a train were attributed to its longevity, said to have been working since long before the end of the world. There were stations situated all over the Land of Ooo, but rumor has it that it is the same train that runs through these stations. The Forever Train has three main stations where it rests to refuel and make repairs, one of them was situated very closely to the Nut Kingdom, so the foliage and scenery were very reminiscent of the nearby domain. It was also this station that Finn and Jake decided to go to, with Finn being very excited to see a train for the first time in his life.

"We're almost there Finn," Jake said.

"Ooooh, I can't wait!" Finn said, expressing his excitement by hopping around like the energetic kid he is.

Jake had informed him much of what a train was, and the very thought excited Finn. A big machine that can pull heaps of people across large tracts of land? Finn was filled with anticipation.

"It's just over that ledge!" Jake said, pointing to a ledge when he saw railroads in the distance.

Without warning, Finn ran towards the direction his friend pointed to. He stopped in sheer amazement as he stared at what he believed was the station for the Forever Train.

The station was a very large building, unlike anything he had ever seen. In one part of the building was where a set of railroad tracks disappeared into an open space in the building. Nearby was another large door where swarms of people and monsters and other alien-like life-forms where attempting to buy tickets to the Forever Train. The rest of the building had large windows and expanded past the registration window to what seemed to be the repair dock. This was evident by the sounds of machine noises and clanking. Behind the building was where the rest of the railroad tracks spilled out and into the horizons of the unknown. All of this caused Finn to utter small words in awe as he continued to stare at the wonder that was the Forever Train, even though he had not even seen the actual train yet.

"C'mon dude," Jake said, interrupting him from his trance, "it looks like the train is docked right now. We have to buy tickets and get on board before it leaves."

"Oh, okay," Finn said, regaining his hold on reality.

The two etched their way down the ledge in haste before making it to solid ground. Jake and Finn rushed hurriedly towards the crowd, Jake mostly. Finn didn't understand why the two needed to rush.

"Why are we running?" Finn asked.

"The train only docks at this station once a week," Jake answered, catching Finn's attention, "if it leaves, we'll have to wait another week."

"Seriously? We'd better hurry then," Finn said, picking up his pace.

The two finally reached the tail of the crowd while it was slowly ebbing more and more into the station. The more tickets were bought, the faster the crowd moved. There was the occasional angry customer, which hampered the line a bit, but they would be quickly taken care of by the security, which was just a frog clung to the wall who would grab the disorderly person with its tongue and spit them miles away from the station. Eventually, it was just Finn and Jake at the ticket office next to buy tickets. Finn, however, was more focused on the mechanical wonder in the back of the building but he couldn't see it very well behind the crowds of people and monsters.

"Yeah, how ya doing?" the slug like creature behind the window asked, "Can I take your order?"

"Uh yeah, can we see the train routes first?" Jake asked.

"Sure," the slug thing handed him a map of the train's routes, the paper of which was rather slimy, "Here ya go."

"Jake," Finn asked, "Have you been here before?"

"Once," Jake answered, "When I was a pupster."

Jake observed the map and scowled.

"You don't have a bigger map?" he asked.

"Oh, you're going to take the long routes?" he asked as he shuffled through some scrolls, "you must have some deep pockets, son."

The slug handed him one of the scrolls he found.

"Biggest map we have available for viewing," he said.

Jake unfolded the scroll, while wiping away some of the slime, and used his stretching powers to fully observe the map.

"There. That's the Dancing Kingdom," Finn said, pointing to the landmark of the map.

"The route that takes us there is the blue line," Jake commented, "but this whole train route is weird."

The train's routes on the map ran through other stations, but some of them were one-way, dead ends, through lakes, loops, and even through a volcano. However, the most dangerous 'attractions' where on the route back to the main station situated near the Nut Kingdom, the blue line only ran through a lake first and a few loops.

"You want to take the blue line?" the slug asked, "That's as far the train goes before looping back here."

"What's so bad about the blue line?" Finn asked.

"The longest route is the blue line," the slug explained, "but it's the most expensive."

"How expensive are we talking?" Jake asked, rolling up the map.

"I'm talking a hundred-forty-four dollops, and that's only for a one way ticket," the slug said as he crossed his arms.

Finn dug into his pocket and pulled out all the gold pieces he had.

"I have, like, nineteen pieces of gold here," Finn said.

"Oh, well, fifteen will suffice for a one way ticket, but you'll need an extra gold piece for your pet, sir."

"Hey, he's not my dog," Finn said, getting upset, "He's my friend!"

"Oh, well, then I'll need thirty pieces of gold for the both of you," the slug said, typing something into a typewriter.

"Uh, don't listen to my master here," Jake said, walking in between the slug and Finn, "He likes to call me his best friend from time to time, but I'm just a lowly talking pet, really."

The slug stared down Jake, as if trying to see if he was lying.

"Jake," Finn whispered, turning Jake around, "What are you saying, you're my best bud, my bro, even."

"Dude, we don't have enough money for two tickets," Jake said, also whispering, "And besides, I don't want to let you on this train alone. I have to come with you, no matter what it takes."

"Are you sure about this?" Finn asked.

"How badly do you want to get to the Dancing Kingdom?" Jake asked.

Finn put his hand under his chin, thinking hard and considering demoting Jake to just a 'pet' for the discount tickets. After a thoughtful second, Finn agreed.

"Okay. Just for this moment, you are my pet, okay?" Finn said.

"I'm okay with it," Jake answered.

"Uh, yeah," Finn said aloud, "he's my pet dog alright."

"Does he have a leash?" the slug asked.

"I'm wearing pants spun from spider webs," Jake said, demonstrating by tugging at his almost invisible pants.

"Hmm, close enough," the slug said before punching in numbers to the typewriter.

"Mathematical," Finn said as he fist pounded Jake, who would also agree.

"Cash, please," the slug asked.

Finn politely dropped the gold pieces into the tray under the window. The slug received the coins and dropped them into a box, pulling out two pieces of paper from somewhere behind the ticket office.

"Here are your tickets, good sirs," the slug said, handing them slimy tickets.

"Algebraic," Finn said, receiving the slimy pieces of paper and giving Jake his slimy ticket.

"Here's your change, sir," the slug said, dropping six slimy dollops into the tray.

Finn took the slimy money and slid them and the ticket into his pocket, not even acknowledging how slimy they were.

"Thanks," Finn said, walking past the ticket office.

"The train leaves in four minutes!" the slug yelled.

As Finn and Jake walked deeper into the station, the first thing they saw was an old clock hanging from the ceiling as it counted down the seconds. The second thing they saw was a cloud of steam enveloping people and monsters as they lined up beside the train. The third thing they saw was the train itself, just around the corner of the station. It was one of the longest engines Finn and Jake had ever seen before. It had several steam chimneys above it, each one expelling a cloud sized haul of steam each second. The train and wheels were made out of some of the shiniest metals in the world, because under the dim light of the station, the metal still gleamed as it would under the sun. The face of the train couldn't be seen from their angle, but because the train made a loud roar every now and then, you wouldn't approach it out of sheer shyness. Finn was so astounded by the train in awe he stood there for seconds before Jake snapped him back to reality.

"Hey Finn, they're boarding the train now! Let's go!" Jake said, pulling on Finn's arm towards one of the train's carts.

"All aboard!" a rock ogre said, swinging a bell back and forth as the train roared with steam.

"Hey, wait!" Jake yelled, with a slimy ticket in hand, "We got tickets!"

The two ran towards the ogre, Finn pulling out his ticket out of his pocket. The ogre held out his hand, wanting the pieces of paper. The two obliged and handed him the tickets, with the ogre raising a brow as he looked at the paper.

"Blue line tickets?" he asked, "You guys going somewhere important?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Finn replied.

The ogre nodded, put the two tickets together, and ripped them in half. Finn, not knowing how tickets work, got upset over this.

"Hey! Why'd you do that for?" Finn asked, getting ready to kick some butt.

"Easy, Finn. That's how it works here," Jake said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"First time rider, eh?" the ogre said with a smile, "I had to rip the tickets because these are one way tickets. You can't use them again in other stations."

"What?" Finn asked, "You mean, we have to walk all the way back to the Candy Kingdom?"

"Pretty much," the ogre said with a shrug, handing the two the other half of their tickets, "No w get on. The train is about to leave."

Before Finn could say anything, Jake pushed him into the cart as the train roared again. Inside the cart, Finn was met with an odd cast of characters. In the seats sat a mummy with flies buzzing around his head, a lemon person, a weasel with an eyepatch over one eye, a mermaid, and a statue of a gargoyle. Behind Finn, the door closed and the rock ogre was behind him. Noticing that he was in the way, Finn kindly stepped out of the little hall and allowed the rock ogre through. As the rock ogre sat on a nearby chair and picked up a magazine, the train cart shifted suddenly, causing Finn to freak out a bit.

"Wha, what's going on?" Finn asked.

"The train's about to leave. We'd better find a seat," Jake said, walking towards an empty seat in front of the mermaid.

As the train shifted more, Finn rushed towards the seat Jake was sitting at and tightly clutched the chair. The characteristic noise of the train engine was heard throughout the entire set of train carts, which became faster as the train picked up speed. Eventually, the windows revealed that the train cart had left the station and the landscape of Ooo was in the windows scope. Typically, Finn was astounded by this.

"Whoa, we're moving!" Finn said, crawling towards the window and Jake moving away.

"So you want the window seat?" Jake joked, but Finn continued to stare out the window in amazement.

"I can see a corner of the Candy Kingdom, Jake!" Finn said, still staring in awe of the outside world.

Finn continued his wondrous intake of the Ooo scenery before he was reminded of something very important.

"Oh wait, Jake," Finn said, turning to his dog, "we bought one way tickets. Does that mean we really have to walk our way back to the Candy Kingdom?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jake said with a shrug.

"And you knew?" Finn asked again, getting upset, "What the flip, man?"

"Two way tickets cost twice as much. We don't have that kind of money," Jake answered.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Finn asked.

"The train was about to leave, and we didn't have much time to think about the ticket prices."

"So," Finn sat upright in his seat, "We're really on a one way trip to the Dancing Kingdom, huh?"

"Hey Finn, remember," Jake said as he put a hand on his shoulder, "you're doing this because you just have to."

"Yeah, I remember," Finn said as he looked back outside the window, catching a glimpse of the Candy Kingdom before it disappeared beyond the scenery, "I just have to…"

* * *

Hours after Finn and Jake left the treehouse, the dark clouds brought down a parade of rain over the land. The treehouse itself was very silent, save for the occasional voice of a worm echoing throughout the halls. However, the house was not left unattended, for that two robots and a pillow were residing in the house, watching after it for their owners. While the pillow, known as Mallow, was practicing some swordplay for some reason, the robot, known as NEPTR, was staring out the window, watching the droplets of rain fall on the grass outside and occasionally splashing on the window.

NEPTR sighed as the rain continued pouring from the sky. He was still pondering the true meaning of emotion and why robots couldn't comprehend it. The more he thought about it, the more it confused him. NEPTR didn't honestly know why he wanted to know so badly, it was a mix of fascination and the desire to know that drove his pondering of the subject.

"NEPTR?" a small voice spoke from the back of the room.

NEPTR turned around to meet BEAMO, a green robot shaped like a brick with human-like arms and legs, a face on a monitor, a control pad and three buttons, and a pair of speakers on his sides. Essentially, he was a walking video game console.

"Sigh…what is it, BEAMO?" NEPTR replied.

"I was wondering if you would like to play a video game with me." BEAMO asked.

"No thanks, I don't feel like entertainment," NEPTR said, hopping down from the window pane.

"Why are you so depressed, NEPTR?" BEAMO asked.

"BEAMO," NEPTR started, "what do you know about emotion?"

BEAMO looked at his robot brethren, confused, as to why he would ask such a question, or why he should care.

"I do not know much about emotion," BEAMO answered, "but I do know that robots experience short seconds of it every now and then."

"Really?" NEPTR asked, astonished, "What emotion have you felt?"

"Hmm, well, I felt anger when a grass ogre broke my controller and tossed it at my face," BEAMO said, recalling an event about a year ago.

"And how did it feel?" NEPTR asked.

"I felt like taking a sword and jamming it into the big lummox," BEAMO answered.

"Oh my, that emotion sounds very unpleasant," NEPTR responded.

"But I have also experienced joy at times, too," BEAMO said, trying to reassure his pie throwing friend, "like when Finn and Jake finish a game, watching them jump up and down in excitement fills me with joy as well."

"So…emotions can be contagious too?" NEPTR asked.

"Again, I don't know much about emotion, so I don't know how they're supposed to work."

"Sigh…" NEPTR heaved, "Now I'm even more curious about emotions and why robots can't comprehend them."

"NEPTR, why are you so enamored by the concept of emotion?" BEAMO asked.

"I just feel that it is something I should know. Like how Creator felt like going on an adventure to the Dancing Kingdom."

"Well," BEAMO said, having an idea, "You aren't going to fully grasp the concept of emotion just by staying here."

NEPTR thought about what his video game buddy said. He was right. He wasn't going to learn more about emotions if he stayed in the house. If his desire to know was great enough, he would venture out into the unknown and search for the true meaning of emotion.

"You're right, BEAMO," NEPTR said, heading towards the stairs, "I won't learn anything if I stay here."

"What are you implying?" BEAMO asked.

NEPTR turned to BEAMO and said, "I'm going on my own journey, BEAMO, to find out what it is that robots are missing."

"You can't be serious," BEAMO said, "a robot like yourself venturing out into a world like Ooo?"

"I just have to find out, BEAMO, even if it spells my disassembly."

NEPTR carefully ventured down the stairs, having tripped and fall down on them several times in the past. BEAMO followed him with concern, easily scaling the stairs due to his limbs. BEAMO followed the pie throwing robot into another room, where he found him digging into a cabinet.

"BEAMO, do you know where the batteries are kept?" NEPTR asked.

"Top cabinet," BEAMO replied, "But NEPTR, reconsider."

NEPTR didn't pay attention to him as he grabbed a nearby chair, pushed it towards the cabinet, and scaled the chair with much struggle.

"I've already considered the threats, BEAMO," NEPTR said as he opened the cabinet, "I'm still going anyway."

"So you're seriously going to risk every nut and bolt to discover the meaning of emotion?" BEAMO asked, "even if in the end you might fail to comprehend it?"

"I simply must know," he replied, putting box after box of batteries into the cavity in his body.

NEPTR hopped down the chair and headed for downstairs. BEAMO decided not to follow him this time, since changing his mind was no longer possible. If he really wanted to go on his own journey so badly, so be it.

But despite the logical choice of letting NEPTR go alone, BEAMO felt saddened to see NEPTR go on a journey by himself, especially considering the possibilities of NEPTR malfunctioning or being destroyed out there. BEAMO wanted to change NEPTR's mind about leaving, but his processor told him that there was no way of changing NEPTR's decision. BEAMO had no choice but to agree with himself, leaving NEPTR alone to go on his own adventure.

"Mallow," NEPTR called out.

Some sounds were heard upstairs, followed by the sound of breaking glass, and then a pillow holding a sword rolling down the stairs. Landing at the base of the stairs, the pillow pointed his sword back and forth, as if anticipating a sneak attack from anywhere.

"Mallow," NEPTR said again, "can you open the door for me?"

The pillow seemed to nod and then proceeded to do a few back flips towards the main entrance. Opening the door knob with a clicking sound, Mallow flung the door wide open, revealing the damp landscape of the outside. The rain had long since cleared out, leaving the ground riddled with wet grass and mud puddles. Though mildly intimidated by the dampness, NEPTR was determined to go on his adventure and he wasn't going to let mud hinder him.

"Thanks, Mallow," the robot said, receiving a salute from the pillow.

With a deep breath, NEPTR ventured outside, feeling the cold air against his metal exterior. As he cautiously avoided the mud puddles, BEAMO and Mallow watched the robot venture on into the unknown. BEAMO turned to the pillow and asked.

"Do you think he will survive?"

The pillow shook his head and closed the door, locking it from the inside.

* * *

In the Candy Kingdom, there was much talk over the marriage the princess was entitled to; mostly about how it was held back a month. There were rumors going around about how the princess had sustained a hidden injury or that she was testing Matthew as a husband before the wedding. But unbeknownst to the kingdom, the actual reason was that she did not want to marry Matthew at all. It was simply a flaw in the Royal Contract that prevented her from declining her hand in marriage to the man with the romantic feet. So, she decided to hold back the marriage for a month, just before her next birthday, to give her enough time to enjoy herself as an unwed princess before the inevitable marriage. But she couldn't enjoy her time very well if she was so depressed.

At the moment, Princess bubblegum was walking through the main hall, heading for the main entrance of her castle. In her hand was a rosy pink envelope, laced with the smell of licorice and bubblegum. She had written an apology letter to Finn a few minutes ago, still unable to get over the crushing feeling she felt when she betrayed him the other day. Her original plan had failed, thanks to Matthew, and now she feels that she has to apologize somehow and she figured that a letter would be most appropriate, since she couldn't leave the castle and apologize in person.

Arriving outside of the main entrance, she pulled out a kazoo from her pocket and blew into it, releasing a whizzing sound throughout the air. Within seconds, a large pelican flew down from the sky, with a mailman hat and a satchel full of letters. Landing on the ground with a bow, for that he was in the presence of royalty, he humbly greeted the princess.

"Good afternoon, dear princess," he said with an English accent, "how may I be of service today?"

"I need you to deliver this letter to Finn the human," she said, handing the bird the letter, "he and his friend Jake live in that house over there. The big tree, you see?"

The princess was pointing over to Finn and Jake's house, which could be seen just over the horizon from the Candy Kingdom. The pelican squinted his eyes to see exactly what the princess was talking about until he eventually figured it out.

"Ah yes, I see it," he said, "I'll be able to deliver this letter immediately then."

"Make sure my letter gets to them, okay?" the princess requested, "Give it to him in person."

"Sure thing, milady," the pelican said with a bow before lifting off into the air and flying in the direction of the treehouse.

"Oh, Finn," Bubblegum said silently to herself, tears starting to well up in her eyes, "please forgive me…"

* * *

"Out adventuring, be back in a month," a feline in a lab coat read.

It was a well known daily thing to Finn and Jake that they had some unannounced visitors to their houses whenever the clock strikes four in the afternoon. A bipedal cat in a clean white lab coat and a walking shark would show up at their doorsteps every day and demand a fight. It was a daily thing to do and the pair would occasionally relieve the dynamic duo of boredom. Finn and Jake never questioned why the science cat and land shark always arrived at the same time every day and fought. Most likely because they wouldn't get an answer; the two never talked. So, essentially, the two just shrugged off reason and fought the cat and shark whenever they came around.

But what about days when they were out adventuring?

"So, they're out again?" the walking shark asked.

"Yeah, it seems so," science cat replied.

The two stood there, comprehending how, for the umpteenth time, their rivals were not at the house and wouldn't return for a whole month. They were used to missing out on days or even weeks of four-o'-clock fights, but a whole month? Deep within the two, something just snapped.

"Mreeoooow!" the cat yelled as he tore apart Finn's note.

"How could they do this? Seriously?" land shark asked, "I mean, a whole month of absence?"

"It makes you wonder what kind of adventures those guys go on," science cat retorted.

"They always do this," land shark pointed out, "it's 'Adventure' this, 'Adventure' that!"

"Except this time, the adventure is gonna last a whole month."

"Well, what does that leave us to do?" land shark asked, "I spent most of our 'day-offs' sharpening my swords and teeth. I can't sharpen them anymore without cutting air."

"A whole month of nothing to do," science cat said, crouching on the ground, "it'll be the worst vacation ever."

"I can't just do nothing for a whole month!" land shark complained, "I've got a family to feed, you know!"

"Well, there's someone you can eat," science cat said, pointing to a pelican flying close by.

The pelican was actually heading towards the house, having a special letter to deliver. He did not mind the cat or the shark as the mail was top priority, and he took his priorities very seriously.

"Hello, good folk," the pelican said as he landed, "I'm here to deliver a letter to Finn the human. Is he home?"

"Pssh. Nope," the cat replied, "that guy and his dog friend are out on an adventure, and won't be back for another month."

"Oh no, you're joking, right?" the mail bird said, getting skeptical, "because, this letter is of top priority, and I was specifically asked to deliver it to him in person. If he is not here, then I'll have to use my DNA tracker to trace his location, then schedule when I will be able to-"

"Wait, wait, wait, did you say 'DNA tracker'?" science cat asked.

"Yes I did, every mailman has one," the bird said, pulling out a gadget from his satchel.

"Hmm," science cat uttered, stroking his chin.

"What's on your mind science cat?" land shark asked, "Turkey a la king?"

"What? No," science cat answered, realizing land shark was considering eating the mailman, "I'm thinking about tracking down those guys so we can have our fight."

"With what?"

"Uh, excuse me," science cat said, calling out the pelican, "we can deliver that letter for you, if you just lend us the DNA tracker."

"Well, while that would be a big help, how do I know I can trust you?" the bird asked, waving the pink letter.

"We're, uh, good friends of Frank the human. We're, like, homies. Yeah."

"Hmm…" the pelican wasn't sure about entrusting the very important letter with two strangers, but they do seem to know the recipient pretty well, considering they know where he lives.

"Also, we won't eat you," land shark threatened.

"Land shark!" science cat shouted.

"Oh, sorry," the carnivorous fish apologized, "_He _won't eat you."

"Land Shark!" science cat reacted loudly.

"What? I'm hungry."

"While I am not fazed by the big fish's threat," the mail bird said, "I do consider the benefits of this deal. I loan you guys my DNA tracker and you guys deliver the letter for me. It _is_ a fair deal."

"We won't let you down, sir," the science cat said, eagerly putting his hands together.

"Hmm…okay, I guess I can trust you guys."

The pelican handed over the pink letter and the DNA tracker over to the science cat. Science cat tucked the letter away in his lab coat but was more focused on the DNA tracker.

"You'll need a DNA sample to get that to work," the mail bird said, "but since you guys are good friends, I'm sure you have a DNA sample ready."

"Uhh, yeah. Yeah, we do," land shark lied.

Looking around the area, as if he would find a DNA sample of Finn, he noticed the torn up pieces of paper that were once Finn's note he left on his door. Picking up a piece, he put it through the gadgets DNA scanner and within seconds, the gadget beeped and showed Finn's DNA coding, his thumbprint, and his location. According to the device, Finn was somewhere near the Water Kingdom, an awfully long distance from where they were. Not only that, Finn was moving at a very fast speed.

"Good luck, you two," the pelican said before lifting off into the air to deliver more letters.

"So, where are they now?" land shark asked.

"You're not gonna believe this, but, somewhere near the Water Kingdom."

"The Water Kingdom? But I haven't been there since I was a guppy!"

"Well, Finn is over there now. We might as well go find him."

"Sigh…okay," land shark bemoaned.

Focusing carefully on the DNA tracker, science cat and land shark began their journey, to find and beat the holy snot out of Finn once and for all. Nobody knows why they did it, some may say they don't even know either, but it supports them and their families while also putting cash in their pockets, somehow.

"You know," science cat said, "finding those guys is going to be much easier with this DNA tracker. We should've gotten ourselves one of these a long time ago."

"Yeah…" land shark replied, recalling how their previous searches never went well or ended up unsuccessful, "This time, we'll find them for sure!"

As the two walked into the distance, there was a sharp rustle in a bush. Suddenly, the area became cold, and a quiet little 'meow' escaped the bush. The bush was suddenly frozen in an instant, as if done by a magic spell. Whatever monster lay in the bush, it was going to follow the cat and shark for one reason only.

It was seeking revenge.

* * *

The rumbling and moving of the train rocked the carts humbly, providing a soothing wave of motion to the passengers of the train carts. There would be a sharp jolt every now and then, but that did not disturb the passengers. In fact, it could be considered welcomed, adding to the appeal of being inside a train and giving it character. It was a humble atmosphere to be in as the scenery of the windows would change, from lush forests to beautiful lakes, it makes you feel like sitting there forever and observe the changing landscape sleeplessly. Such things were part of the appeal of ever riding a train.

"Ugh, I hate sitting here for so long and doing nothing."

…unfortunately, for one human boy, such a complex had failed to appeal to him.

"Well, it is the quickest way to the Dancing Kingdom," Jake pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm so bored!" Finn nearly shouted, "I want to do something."

"Well, you don't have to sit there," Jake said, "you can check out the other carts if you want."

"I'd rather not," Finn said, "that sounds boring."

"Yeah…yeah, it does."

Suddenly, without notice, the train was starting to slow down. Finn and Jake didn't notice until they heard metal screeching. Finn jerked up at this.

"What was that?" Finn said, standing up.

"It sounds like we're stopping," Jake said, "or the train has diarrhea."

"Really? Are we already here?" Finn asked, looking outside the window only to see a lake and an enormous fountain in the distance.

"No. We're probably stopping at the Water Kingdom station," Jake said, holding Finn's shoulder and pulling him back down into his seat, "other people have places to go on this train."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right…" Finn said, feeling disappointed.

Eventually, the train slowed down to a stop, with some conspicuous screeching. As the doors opened, a voice was heard through the speakers in the cart.

"We have arrived at the Water Kingdom station," said a voice sounding like a child, "please keep any luggage you have close to you. We are not responsible for any lost items or jewelry. Also, please pick up any trash around your area. We'll know if it was you!"

The rock ogre, who was sitting comfortably reading his magazines, got up with a grunt and walked out the door, greeting passengers as they walked in and out of the carts. From behind Finn and Jake, the mermaid hopped off of her seat and towards the door, saying goodbye to the rock ogre as she left. From outside the cart, walked in an orange octopus, a red fairy, a metal cube rolling its way around, a snail, a brick golem, and a strange blue person with a glass helmet, almost resembling a spacesuit. After the cast had seated themselves, it was moments before the rock ogre returned to inside the cart and back to his normal seat. The doors closed and the trained roared again as the carts began to move.

Finn sighed as he rested his elbow against the window pane, staring out at the giant lake before him. He was reminded of his fear of the ocean which he had never conquered as he stared out at the blue yonder. He could clearly see the land surrounding the body of water and confirmed it was not an ocean, and thus he felt no fear from it. It also had no waves splashing against the shore, so that was further confirmation. Even after a year he had faced his fear and failed, he had yet to muster up any resolve towards facing it or overcoming it, and he didn't know why he was afraid to boot. He had long accepted that his fear of the ocean was a defining trait, but after he met Billy, a legendary hero, who slew a frikkin evil ocean by himself, his confidence as a hero diminished whenever he thought about the ocean.

Finn sighed again, wondering about his future as a hero and if he'll ever reach it. He was almost certain that he'd never reach the same scale as Billy, mostly because Finn himself was human and Billy possessed abnormal abilities. The reason he thought being human was a detriment was because of their lack of any special abilities. And even if they had any, he didn't know how to tap into it. Maybe if he had met other humans…

Finn shook his head wildly, shaking the thought out of his head. This was the reason why he hated doing nothing, not even playing video games, for a long period of time. His mind would wander and he didn't like where his mind would take him. He hated thinking about things he didn't like thinking about, like finding other humans or his future of becoming a hero. If only he had something to do to keep his mind from wandering. But since he had to stay on the train for who knows how long, he felt this was what people meant by dying of boredom. And he hated it.

"Finn? Jake?" a voice from across the cart spoke.

Turning to look, they recognized the familiar face. She was a thin feminine person wearing a tight blue suit with a bowl shaped collar, and on her collar was a red diamond. Her head was encased in a tipped glass sphere, which seemed to be filled some strange bluish fluid. Her skin was a flush blue and her hair was short and yellow and curved at some ends. She was an old friend of Finn and Jake's, who met a year ago near Rump City after an incident with a certain magic man was resolved.

"Trudy?" Jake said, Finn rearing closer to see for himself.

"Wow, I haven't seen you guys in forever!" Trudy remarked.

"Wow, it is you!" Finn said, astounded, "I haven't seen you since Freak City. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine," she replied, "and Freak City is no more, since you guys cured us of the Magic Man's spell. A bunch of possum bears have moved in under the bridge instead."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear."

"How are Gork and the others?" Jake asked.

"Oh, we're doing fine. We've split up for the time being," Trudy said, "I've gone and visited my relatives in a nearby cave from here. Gork went to his father's house, who I think is a blacksmith, Zap went to visit his uncle somewhere in the Ice Kingdom, Gorflax and Wee Wee got a temporary job at a famous burger joint, and Kim…"

"What about Kim?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. She never told me where she would go. In fact, we don't seem to talk much," Trudy said, bewildered.

"Hmm, probably because she hates you," Jake said.

"Huh, why would she hate me?"

"I dunno," Jake said, shrugging, "but people tend to hate other people for no real reason."

"Yeah, some people hate Jake for no reason at all," Finn commented.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Finn and Jake's house, a squirrel person was face down on the floor on their knees, tears freely falling from their eyes, with a letter clutched in one hand and a knife in the other. The squirrel was originally planning to raid the house and skin Jake alive only to find that the door was locked and no one was home.

"Why Jake…?" the squirrel sobbed, "Why are you never there to accept my letters?"

The squirrel sniffed and wiped her nose before being overtaken by anger and angrily clutching the knife.

"I…I HATE you!" she said, hurling the knife at the door.

As soon as the knife was lodged into the door, a loud beeping was heard.

"HOUSE THREAT DETECTED!" a robotic voice boomed, alarming the squirrel, "RETALIATING TO THREAT AND DISPATCHING!"

Suddenly, a robotic arm carrying a massive laser cannon emerged from the trees leaves and aimed at the squirrel. Immediately, the squirrel ran on sight as the laser began firing red beams. The squirrel only cried more as she was chased by the lasers and ran off into the plains.

"Whyyyyyy Jake?"

* * *

"But that can't be," Trudy disagreed, "I bought a cute sweater for her last Christmas, and she said she loved it."

"Did you ever see her wear it?" Jake asked.

Trudy raised her hand at this, but couldn't say anything as she never recalled a moment where she had seen her friend wearing the sweater.

"Uhh…"

"…"

"…"

"…so! Why are you guys on this train?" Trudy asked, changing the subject.

"We're on our way to the Dancing Kingdom!" Jake said, almost seemingly forgetting the previous subject immediately.

"Really? That's far… what for?"

"Ehhh, we just feel like going there, that's all," Finn modestly answered.

"You just feel like it?" Trudy said, skeptical, "No way. Blue line tickets are frikkin pricey, and the Dancing Kingdom is really far from here. There's no way you guys just 'feel like it'."

Trudy was right. There was no way this could've passed as a normal little visit to the Dancing Kingdom. But Finn didn't really want to answer. He didn't exactly want to remember what had happened the previous day. But Trudy was a good friend of theirs; he couldn't just lie to her.

"Well, you see…" Finn said slowly.

"Look, some stuff happened and Finn doesn't want to talk about it," Jake answered for him, "We're heading to the Dancing Kingdom to fix it, okay?"

"Oh, it's complicated, right?" Trudy said, "I understand. You don't have to explain."

"Thanks Jake," Finn said.

"Anytime," Jake replied, fist bumping Finn.

A sleek shadow climbed its way up on the window as quick as lightning, going on almost completely unnoticed. Finn managed to catch the shadow in the corner of his eye before it disappeared beyond the windows scope. Curious, he asked the others.

"Hey, did you guys see that?" Finn asked.

"See what? I didn't see anything," Jake responded.

Trudy replied the same, "Me neither."

Finn scratched his chin, as he was sure he had seen a strange figure crawl up the window and his warrior instinct made him feel suspicious of things.

"I'm sure I saw something crawl up the window just now…" Finn said.

"Eh, it's probably just your imagination," Jake said, "It can play tricks on you when you're bored and stuff."

"Yeah, imagination is a sneaky devil that can get you when you're most vulnerable," Trudy said.

"Hmm…" Finn couldn't suppress the feeling that something ominous was going to happen, but he didn't know what.

"Y'know, if you want to check so badly," Trudy said, "There are ladders just behind the train carts that get you access to the roof of the train."

"Wait, they allow passengers to climb up to the roof of the train carts while the train is moving, despite the potential dangers of falling off or comically hitting a wall as the train enters a tunnel?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. It's on the list of the stuff they're not responsible for," Trudy said, pointing to a poster detailing a list of specific stuff the train owners couldn't be sued for.

"I'm gonna go check it out," Finn said, getting up from his seat.

"Wait, Finn! It's too dangerous!" Jake said, grabbing Finn's arm, "…take this turtle shell for protection."

"Thanks, bud," Finn said before walking off to the back of the train cart.

"You sure he'll be okay up there?" Trudy asked.

"Yep. Finn isn't easy to scare. I'm sure he can handle himself up there."

* * *

"This is making me feel scared," Finn said, quivering, "I don't think I can handle this."

Finn didn't realize how fast the train was going. The wind was harshly pushing against him, having almost pushed him off the cart as soon as he reached the roof. The shaking and swaying of the train carts didn't help either as Finn struggled to maintain balance and not fall off the train. Not only that, the train had long left the lake and was passing by a route lined with a jungle of trees, with some branches growing too close to the train. All of these elements created an unsafe environment to be on the roof of the train. Finn began regretting his unwise decision, especially at the worst possible time for the train to be weaving through some hazards.

Losing his balance, Finn fell forward and tightly clutched the roof with his arms and legs.

"Man, this sucks," Finn muttered.

Up ahead, however, Finn noticed something in the distance. He saw what he made out to be two worm-like people and a box. Forgetting his fear for a moment, Finn got up and walked towards the two shady characters.

"Hey!" he yelled.

The two worms noticed him and immediately split up, slithering their way in two different directions off the roof. They left behind the box, which Finn ran towards.

"Huh, they left behind this doohickey," Finn said, picking up the strange box and examining it.

It had a bunch of wires running in and out of it, some light bulbs here and there, and a screen which displayed the number thirty on it.

"Huh, it kinda looks like a…"

Suddenly, the box beeped, and the number on it began counting down from thirty to twenty-nine, then to twenty-eight, and so forth. Finn had accidentally pressed a button on its side when he picked it up, and it dawned on Finn what this item was exactly.

"…A BOMB!" Finn yelled.

Finn looked back and forth, initially thinking of chucking the bomb off of the train. He winded up his arm, ready to do so, until he saw flashes of animals like deer and birds in the bushes and trees. Setting off the bomb in a forest was a bad idea, Finn thought.

"Crud, I can't throw the bomb into the woods. That's against Smoker the psychologically tormented Bear's warnings," Finn said.

Suddenly, a passing branch knocked the bomb out of Finn's hand, Finn panicking as he saw it fall. Afraid it might fall off the train or worse, prematurely detonate, Finn hurried to catch the falling box. It hit the floor once but Finn caught it before it hit the floor again or worse, fall into the forest. Finn inspected it, seeing that one of its bulbs was broken but still counting down the clock normally. While Finn was relieved that the bomb did not detonate, he was still worried about the timer, which was now at twenty-two.

Without thinking, Finn began pulling on the wires outside the box, desperate to remove them if it meant deactivating the bomb. He had not thought about the possibility of it self-detonating because of the wire-pulling, but he was too panicked to think about it. Eventually, Finn managed to pull out the wires forcefully, causing the bomb to beep. Looking at the screen, the numbers displayed were eighty-eight. Finn sighed with relief; at least he delayed the explosion by eighty-eight seconds.

Suddenly, the numbers changed back to thirty seconds, except this time, the numbers were counting down twice as fast. Finn yelped, with no more ideas on how to deactivate the bomb. Panicked, he began doing the only thing he could think of; punching it.

"C'mon you stupid bomb! Deactivate!" Finn shouted.

Amazingly, Finn's efforts managed to thwart the countdown and the bomb seemed to fizzle out. Astounded, Finn gave it a test shake to see if it would not reactive. It did not. Finn heaved a huge sigh of relief, now calming down as the bomb crisis was over.

"Those worms planted this bomb for some reason…" Finn said to himself, looking at the box, "…but why?"

Looking at the rest of the train carts, he suddenly noticed the worms again, fiddling with another box on another cart.

"Again?" Finn yelled, running towards to the two with quick speed thanks to the tailwind of the train's speed. The two worms noticed him again and slithered off the roof of the train before he got any closer, abandoning the box in the process.

"Hey! Get back here!" Finn yelled as he hopped onto the next cart.

The worms got away, but Finn was more concerned about the box. It looked exactly like the box he was holding, minus the missing wires and broken light bulb, and it was taped to the cart with duck tape.

"Another one?" Finn said.

Finn looked out at the other train carts and noticed there were more boxes taped to the other carts. He soon came to a horrible realization.

"The whole train is laced with bombs…" Finn said, "…FUDGE!"

* * *

"…so you see, girls like it when guys submit themselves to a girls whim," Trudy explained.

"…hmm, I don't know. It seems like the girl gets the better end of the deal," Jake replied.

Trudy chuckled, "Well, do you think girls like it when-"

"Enough banter, you two!" shouted the weasel with an eye patch, "I'm pretty sure your conversation has squicked out the entire room!"

The entire room, including the station attendant rock ogre, resounded in agreement.

"Eheh, um, maybe we should've talked a little quieter," Trudy said, embarrassed.

"Well, at least I learned something new," Jake said, optimistic.

All of a sudden, Finn burst through the back door of the cart and shouted with all urgency.

"JAKE!" Finn yelled.

"Finn?" Jake asked, "What is it? Why are you yell-?"

"Jake! I need you to help me with something!" Finn shouted, grabbing Jake's arm and pulling it.

"Wha, with what?" the dog asked, getting out of his chair.

"I just need your help! Come on!"

"Wait, you guys!" Trudy said, getting up and following them, "what's going on?"

"Yeah Finn!" Jake said, forcefully stopping before Finn pulled him out of the cart, "Tell us what's going on!"

"Look you guys," Finn said with all urgency, "there's no time to explain. I need you Jake to help me with something."

"Nuh uh. Tell us what's wrong first," Jake demanded, "did you break something?"

"Ugh, no! I didn't break anything!" Finn said.

"Did you create something then?"

"What- no! Jake, this is a matter of life and death!" Finn said with all seriousness.

"Hey shut that kid up!" the octopus shouted, "You guys oughta keep your kid's mouth closed!"

"Hey, I'm not related to them!" Trudy replied.

"I'm not their… I didn't…"

Finn suddenly exploded.

"THERE'S A BOMB ON THE TRAIN!"

The room was hushed upon hearing the loud boy's words. Comprehension was quick, and yet slow, at the same time, for that seconds felt like minutes to the audience. Then, came the aftershock of the realization.

"There's a what on the train?" someone replied.

"Finn, are you serious about this?" Jake asked as the rest of the room erupted, "are you absolutely sure there's a bomb on the train?"

"I brought one of the bombs here to prove it," Finn said, bringing out the bomb from his backpack.

"Why'd you bring that thing here?" someone in the car said, causing further panic in the cart.

"Don't worry! I deactivated it," Finn said, showing the blank screen, "…but I didn't deactivate the other ones yet."

"You mean there's more?" Jake said.

"They're taped to the roofs with duck tape. I can't remove them."

"I have to inform the conductor about this," the rock ogre said, "he'll know what to do."

The rock ogre opened the front door and dashed inside. One of the passengers, the eye patched weasel, got up from his seat and dashed towards Finn.

"I can handle this," he said in a rough voice, "I've deactivated bombs before. How many bombs did you see kid?"

"There's one on every cart of this train," Finn answered.

"Ok, that means there are six bombs on this train," the weasel said.

"Minus this one," Finn said, pointing to the box he was holding, "but this was set to thirty seconds."

"Hrmm," the weasel muttered, "thirty seconds isn't enough time to disable five bombs."

"Are you serious?" Trudy said, "Isn't there any 'quick' way to deactivate them?"

"Unless we have access to an instant freeze ray, and a really cold one, this will be one of the greatest train wrecks in Ooo."

"Crud," Finn said.

The only person he knew who had access to such instant freezing powers was the Ice King, and he was halfway across the continent. Not only that, even if he was here, he'd be very difficult to convince to help.

"Um," Trudy said, "I have those kinds of powers."

"Trudy, you know ice magic?" Jake asked, "You never told us that."

"Sorry. It just never came up."

"Ok, I've told the conductor about the bombs," the rock ogre said, entering through the front door, "…all he did was scream and panic."

"Well, that's a shame," the weasel joked.

"However, I have instructed him to speed up the train to get us out of the forest, to avoid the explosion from causing a forest fire."

"Ah, right. As per the final wish of Smoker, the psychologically tormented Bear," Jake said.

"May he rest well," Trudy said, hanging her head low for a moment of silence, as did everyone else.

"Ok guys," the weasel said, breaking up the moment of silence, "here's what needs to happen."

"The train picking up speed is going to be a small problem, so try not to fall of the train. Me, Finn, and maybe Jake will head straight for the last of the train carts and try to remove the bombs while Trudy freezes the nearest bomb from here and freeze it as cold as she can. She will move on to the next bomb and freeze it while we retrieve the bombs if we have managed to remove them. Trudy will then freeze the bombs we bring to her and, with any luck, freeze multiple bombs at once. If we do this right, we should disable all five bombs in record time. Understood?"

"I like this plan," Trudy said.

"Heck yeah!" Finn agreed.

"Neat plan, have you done this before?" Jake asked.

"Once, when I was fourteen…," the weasel answered, "…days old. Now come on!"

"It's de-bombing time!"

* * *

"It's clutch-the-train-for-your-life time!" Finn squealed, gripping the edge of the roof as hard as he can.

If regular train speed made Finn fearful of standing on a train, standing on a _speeding_ train was just suicide. The train was going incredibly fast, the forest around them being just a blur. While the weasel with the eye patch was not scared, Jake and Trudy were, but Finn was _terrified_.

"Ok guys! The bombs have yet to start counting down," he said, observing the one bomb nearest to them, "We may have some extra time, but every second counts. Go!"

The weasel ran off to the farthest cart of the train, unafraid of the roaring winds or high speed ride. Jake, despite holding onto the roof tightly, mustered up the courage to head towards the farthest train cart with the weasel, by using his stretching powers to stretch his arms and clutch the undersides of the roofs. Trudy had already started working on the first bomb, focusing her powers to her hands to freeze the bomb by lowering the temperature as low as possible.

The only one who hadn't moved was Finn, who still hadn't come over the intense speed of the train.

'I gotta get out there and help them!' thought Finn.

'_Like you can even move!_'

'Huh? Who said that?' Finn asked himself.

'_It's your old friend, the Fear Feaster,'_ echoed a rusty voice.

'You again. Where are you?' Finn asked.

'_I'm in your ear. I moved out of your belly button a few weeks ago,'_ he said, _'…which turned out to be a bad idea because it smells even worse in here! Do you ever clean yourself? Seriously, some of this stuff has solidified!'_

'Get out of my head, Fear Feaster! I've got a train full of people to save!' Finn threatened.

'_Oh really? Pfhahahahah! How do you expect to do that when you're tightly clutching the roof like a scared little kitty?'_

'Oh yeah, I-'

'_You've no excuse!'_ the Fear Feaster interrupted, _'You're scared beyond your wits!'_

'But not as bad as I am scared of the ocean,' Finn retaliated.

'_Same shame! Look at your friends!'_

Finn watched his friends working hard to deactivate the bombs, even though the howling winds of super high speed riding was roaring at them, threatening to blow them away at the slightest slip up.

'_They have no regard for their own safety and are only focused on doing what they can to save the people on the train, even if it blows up in their faces, literally. Why are you unable to do the same?'_

'Well…because…'

'_Because what? Still not over your precious Bubblegum dumping you like that?'_

'Hey, that's personal!'

'_Feel like you will never outgrow Billy's shadow, where you have selflessly planted yourself in?'_

'No, it's not…'

'_Because of what, then? Do you have an answer? If so, then don't stutter. Say it! Why are you unable to throw away your own life for the lives of others?'_

'Because I don't believe in myself!'

A cold silence cursed Finn, as even in his mind, the noiselessness drowned out the roars of the winds for a long second.

'_Pathetic,' _the voice said, interrupting the silence, _'you act so big and tough when you're out adventuring, yet when you're on stage with a true hero, you crumble and fall in his shadow.'_

'Wha…what do you mean true hero?' Finn asked.

'_Haven't you noticed anything about that weasel?' _Fear Feaster pointed out, _'He's the legendary Bartholomew Spear, famous for tearing out his own eye and stopping an alien invasion with it.' _

Finn realized what the voice in his head meant. Only someone like that weasel could've been the one and only super awesome Bartholomew Spear, with an eye patch on the right eye to boot.

'_Unluckily for you, Spear only respects people with guts, and you've shown him no such thing! Perhaps you are the biggest wuss he's ever seen,' _he taunted.

'…you're right.'

'_What? I am?'_

'I've shown nothing but wimpyness and a cowardly boy. If I ever want to be a true hero, I should cast aside my own safety for the well being of others. That's what true heroism is about!'

'_Uh, actually, you're not supposed to bounce back from…'_

'Enough talking, you! I don't care if the train is going super fast, it could go mach speed for all I care. People's lives are at stake, and I'm not going to cower under some wind and jeopardize everyone!'

'_Ah crud, you conquered your fear of falling…'_ the Fear Feaster said, disappointingly.

Climbing over onto the roof, Finn managed to stand up, despite the harsh winds against his back, and made a mad dash towards the end of the train, withdrawing his beaten up golden sword and yelling.

While Trudy was halfway done with one bomb, she noticed the screaming boy as he ran across the rooftop.

"Disregarding my personal safety!" he yelled as he ran across the rooftops of the train carts.

Finn ran towards the first gap of the train. Jumping over it with all of his might, he was taken by surprise when he jumped much farther than he anticipated because of the fierce tailwinds. He managed to land right in front of the bomb of that cart. Still shaken by the jump, Finn got on one knee and began attempting to remove the tape from the bomb with his sword.

"Okay, golden blade, don't fail me now!" Finn said as he started sawing up the tape with his sword.

As soon as his sword touched the tape, the box beeped.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the number thirty became twenty-nine, then twenty-eight, then twenty-seven, and so forth.

"All of the bombs have activated!" Jake yelled from a distance.

"AHH!" Finn yelped, reliving the same panic as when he found the first bomb.

"We have to hurry! Every second counts!" Spear shouted, "Hurry up with the tape!"

"R-right!" Finn replied, focusing back on the bomb.

Finn tried slashing the tape with his sword, careful not to hit the bomb, but the tape was very defiant. He then tried stabbing the tape. Again, the scratched and bruised tape did not falter and refused to let go of the bomb.

"Crud! This isn't working!" Finn complained.

"Finn!" Trudy yelled as she ran across the train carts.

"Trudy! You finished the first bomb?" Finn asked.

"Yes I did, how are you holding up?" she asked.

"Not good, I can't get the tape off, and the bomb has started counting down," Finn said as the screen beeped nineteen.

"Oh my," Trudy said, worried.

Suddenly, there was a loud whoosh, and the scenery of greenery and forests had disappeared, replaced with a wide view of plains and a mansion in the distance. The train had left the forest and was now driving through a field of plains.

"We're out of the forests," Trudy uttered, "the train should slow down now."

"Hey you guys!" Jake yelled, running back with a bomb in his hand as well as the weasel holding two.

"We got three bombs removed," the weasel said, "and now that we're out of the forest, the conductor will stop the train and try to evacuate everyone. Trudy, have you frozen the last two bombs?"

"Not yet, Finn's working on this one," Trudy said, as Finn tried sawing the tape off.

"Twelve seconds left…," Spear said, looking at the clocks on one of the bombs, "it's no good, you have to freeze all four of them here right now!"

"Ok."

Jake and Spear put the three bombs together with the fourth bomb and Trudy began focusing her ice powers. Finn backed off to allow Trudy to do this, and felt saddened that he couldn't remove the bomb in time. Jake walked up to Finn and said.

"Heheh, we got this Finn," Jake said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "Twelve seconds is enough for Trudy to freeze those bombs to-"

"I couldn't do it, Jake. I couldn't remove the bomb in time," Finn said, disappointed.

"Hey, don't feel so down. Duck tape is some of the strongest tape in existence, forged by the power of ducks."

"But he managed to remove two of those bombs," Finn said, pointing to the weasel.

"Yeah, he does have some skills," Jake said, scratching his chin, "In fact, he seems pretty familiar…"

"Done!" Trudy shouted, having frozen all of the bombs in a large stalagmite, their clocks reading two seconds.

"Phew, that was close…" the weasel said, wiping his forehead.

The loud screeches of the train were heard as the train was slowing down to a stop, the roars of the wind had lessened to a simple breeze as the train slowed down more and more. Eventually, the train had stopped completely, and there were voices chattering from below, wondering what the big deal was.

"We'd better go down there and tell everyone that the situation is under control," Jake said, everyone nodding their head in agreement.

* * *

"Ma'am, you have to listen to me, everyone must get off the train. Everyone," the rock ogre said.

"Hmph, I will not move until I get a proper explanation as to why I should," a witch said.

"Ugh, you sure are total-"

"Rock ogre!" Finn yelled, entering the second cart, "We got rid of all of the bombs!"

The entire train cart responded in surprise, Finn realizing that he had said the wrong thing.

"You idiot! I was trying to avoid telling them that!" the rock ogre said to Finn.

"Eheheh, sorry," Finn said, embarrassed, as the rock ogre brought his hand to his face.

"There's a bomb on the train?" a man whined somewhere in the cart.

"There's no time to explain!" the rock ogre said, "Everyone! Evacuate the train!"

Without another word, everyone rushed to the doors of the train cart, with some panicked shoving involved.

"Hey! No pushing!" the rock ogre said.

"Finn, Jake."

Behind Finn and Jake stood Trudy, along with Spear.

"Everyone has evacuated the train," Spear said, "…except for the conductor."

"We'll check the other carts to see if anyone was left behind," Trudy said, "you guys check on the conductor."

"Okay!" "Got it," Finn and Jake said.

"Be careful, you two," the rock ogre warned, "The conductor is a bit…loony."

Heeding the assistant's warning, the two dashed past Trudy and Spear and crossed the first cart to reach the conductor's room.

"What do you think he meant by loony?" Jake asked.

"Beats me," Finn replied, opening the door, "But then again there are a lot of loony peop- …WHAAA!"

To Finn and Jake's surprise, the conductor room had a giant centipede in the center of the room, situated on top of a set of bicycles wired to electronics in the corner of the room. The steam of the train was coming from the burning coals occasionally doused with water, creating a sauna like environment in the room.

However, the real reason Finn and Jake gasped was not because of the giant centipede in the middle, but because of the clocks taped to the walls with red tape as well as a giant clock taped to the left side wall of the room. And what's worse, all of the clocks were counting down from nineteen seconds.

They were bombs.

"Why hello there, you two," the conductor from the front of the room, who was walking bean person, said as he peeked around the centipede, "Has the bomb crisis been resolved?"

"…"

"…"

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Finn shouted, "THIS ROOM IS FULL OF BOMBS!"

"Really?" the conductor said, skeptical, "but those worms said these were clocks."

"They're not clocks, they're bombs! You have to leave the train!"

"Finn!" Jake said, trying to pull off the tape of a nearby bomb, "These bombs can't be removed! It's red Duck Tape, the strongest tape in existence!"

"Oh, but what about Gordon?" the conductor said, talking about the giant centipede, "He can't get out of the train!"

"Uhh," Finn didn't know how he could save the giant centipede, especially since the bombs can't be removed.

"Finn, we have to get out of here. We can't save the centipede," Jake said.

"Don't say that, Jake! There has to be a way," Finn said.

"But Finn, there isn't a lot of time left!" the clocks timers were at ten seconds.

"You take the conductor off of the train, I have an idea," Finn said, reaching out for his sword and heading towards the large bomb.

"Finn!"

"Doggy, I think we have to go," the conductor said, pulling Jake from the room.

"Don't worry, Gordon, I'll do what I can," Finn said, sword ready.

The centipede gave off a rumbling groan, as a show of appreciation and a hint of fear. The clocks were at five seconds when Finn punctured the wall of the train with his sword, just outside the bounds of the red tape.

Four seconds.

Finn moved his sword like a can opener, sawing up the metal upwards around the red tape.

Three seconds.

Finn curved around in a corner, sawing his sword to the right. He supported himself by leaning on the giant bomb.

Two seconds.

Finn quickly managed to saw through the metal atop of the bomb and had done much of the left side already.

One second.

Finn finished the third line and the wall began to creak. Finn gave it an easy push as the bomb and the wall it was taped to leaned outward. Finn quickly huddled up to the centipede and reached into his bag.

BEEP!

"This train is gonna blow!" the conductor yelled as he ran out of the train. The audience, who had been standing a distance from the train if it was really going to explode, began chatting amongst themselves when they heard this. However, the conductor's words were reassured when there was a large explosion in the train's engine room.

KABOOM!

The force of the explosion was so great, the train had actually tipped over to its right. Pieces of metal were spouting in different directions of the train as the train was scorched with flames. There was an uneasy silence as the people watched the train burn, until a dog yelled.

"FINN!"

Jake ran towards the wreckage, searching for his best friend, or what was left of him. He was joined by Spear and Trudy, who were wondering if Finn really was in the train.

"Jake, I thought Finn was with you," Trudy said, standing near the train as Spear hopped onto the train.

"He was in the engine room when the bomb exploded," Jake huffed, searching through the pieces of metal.

"You mean there were more bombs?" Spear asked.

"The whole engine room was filled with them."

"Oh my goodness!" Trudy gasped.

"Whoever bombed this train was really desperate to make it explode," Spear said, hand on his chin, "…and unfortunately, he succeeded."

"Why was he in the engine room?" Trudy asked.

"He was trying to save Gordon, the giant centipede," Jake huffed, "gasp, gasp, oh Finn…"

Suddenly, a hand rose up from the shrapnel, with scratches here and there. Jake rushed to remove the metal off of him, assisting the victim out of the wreckage. As if by a miracle, Finn arose from the rubble, with minimal scratches and burns.

"Finn!" Jake and Trudy said.

"I'm more surprised that he survived," Spear remarked, "since the room was supposedly filled with explosives."

"How'd you make it?" Trudy asked.

Finn lifted up an empty turtle shell, badly burned and punctured with bits of metal.

"The shell really does protect you from danger," Finn said.

"Uh, turtle shells don't really…" Spear was about to comment, until a rumble from the wreckage interrupted him.

Out of the ruined train crawled a huge centipede, badly burned, but still alive. He struggled to leave the train but collapsed on the grass outside.

"Gordon!" the conductor yelled as he ran towards his partner.

"And you managed to protect the centipede with that…" the weasel said.

"Gordon, are you ok?" the bean asked.

The centipede gave off a weak groan.

Soon, the passengers walked around the train to see the extent of the wreckage, eventually seeing the giant hurting centipede. While Spear went on to inspect the crash, the rock ogre walked out of the audience and spoke to the conductor.

"Is he…alive?" he asked, concerned about the big bug.

"Haha, thankfully, he is. All thanks to this young boy over here," the conductor said, pointing to Finn.

"Well, I only did what any hero would," Finn said, modestly rubbing the back of his head.

"Unfortunately," the conductor said, "the train is in bad shape, and I don't think Gordon will be able to drive the train."

Gordon gave off a groan at this.

"I'm afraid we'll have to temporarily shut down the Forever Train."

"But what about the passengers?" the rock ogre asked.

"We can get one of the other trains to pick them up," the conductor said, "But first, we have to move the wreckage off the tracks. Not only that, the explosion destroyed the radio. We'll have to wait for the other trains on schedule to arrive and notify the station up ahead to send a repair cart."

"That could take hours…" the rock ogre said.

"Hours? We can't stay here for hours," Jake said.

"Yeah, we have to reach the Dancing Kingdom before the end of the month," Finn said.

"I'm sorry, you two, but the Forever Train could've taken you there in a week. But since it's out of commission, you'll have to ride the other, slower trains. And those trains take the loop routes."

"How long would it take for those trains to take us to the Dancing Kingdom?" Finn asked.

"Considering the loops in the routes, probably about four weeks."

"We won't make it in time, then," Jake said, "Finn, I think we have to go on foot from here."

"Are you sure, Jake?" Finn asked, "Think we'll make it in a month?"

"If you are serious about going to the Dancing Kingdom," the rock ogre said, "Then it's probably a better idea to go on foot."

"Huh, some of these bombs didn't go off," Spear said, coming back with a bomb slightly charred.

"Maybe they were duds?" Trudy said.

"No. They're all soggy inside. I don't know how the water got in, but it must've damped up the explosives without short-circuiting the wires."

"It was all steamy when we entered the engine room," Jake said.

"Maybe, that's why…"

"I sawed off the wall with the big bomb taped to it," Finn explained, "I thought that would weaken the impact of the explosion."

"That was a very stupid idea," Spear said, "…but it worked, and both you and Gordon are alive because of you. You've got guts, kid."

"Eheheh…thanks," Finn said with a slight blush.

"So, Finn and Jake, you're going to go on foot?" Trudy asked.

"Yeah. We have to, if we want to reach the Dancing Kingdom in less than a month," Jake answered.

"The Dancing Kingdom is very far from here," Spear said, "I wish you both good luck."

"Thanks, Bartho-"

"Shh!" Spear interrupted Finn, putting a hand over his mouth.

Trudy and Jake raised an eyebrow at this scene, but disregarded it as neither Finn nor Spear made any further comment about it.

"You two should be on your way now, to save time," Spear said.

"Uh, right," Finn said.

"Hope you guys get home alright," Jake said.

"Yeah. Good luck, you two," Trudy said.

"Oh, hey kid," The rock ogre said to them before they could start walking, "thanks again for saving the train."

"No problem," Finn said, no longer shy.

"No seriously, you were such a hero," the rock ogre continued.

"Well, Jake and Trudy did most of the work."

"But if you hadn't climbed up the rooftop," Jake pointed out, "No one would've known about the bomb until it was too late."

"Yeah, Finn. You were the hero in this story," Trudy said, the audience agreeing.

The crowd resounded in claps and cheers for the young boy, the giant centipede also groaning in cheer. Finn stared out at the applauding crowd in wonder. He had saved many people before, but this was the first time he was met with an encoring audience. He felt a little stage fright but his heroism kicked in as he thanked the people who were applauding him.

"You don't have to thank us, guys," he said, "We're just adventurers who like to help people out. It's our privilege."

"Heroes are still heroes," the rock ogre said, "Just know that we owe you one, big time."

"I'll hold you to that," Finn said with a wink.

"Thanks for the ride!" Jake said, waving.

"Good luck on your adventure!" Someone in the crowd yelled.

The entire crowd waved the two goodbye as they started walking their way into the unknown, determined to get to the Dancing Kingdom before the end of the month. Finn and Jake ended their waving as the crowd slowly shrunk in the distance, getting a hold of their bearings for the adventure. Jake reached into his bag and pulled out the deluxe map, looking for where they were on the map. While Jake was doing this, Finn's mind wandered as he spoke aloud.

"Someone bombed that train for some reason," Finn said, "I wonder why?"

"First time I ever heard of a train bombing," Jake replied, "And bombings are usually done by bandits who want to steal precious loot the trains are carrying."

"But there was nothing on that train but people. What were the motives of the bombers?"

"Bomber_s_?"

"Yeah, I saw two worm-like creatures setting them up the bomb while I was on the roof."

"Regardless, we don't know why they tried to bomb the train."

"Maybe…maybe they wanted to stop us from getting to the Dancing Kingdom?" Finn asked.

"What? Now that's just crazy," Jake said, skeptical, "Who knows we're going to the Dancing Kingdom?"

"I'm not saying that I'm right, I'm just saying it's a strange feeling," Finn said.

"Well, it's up to you, but at this point you can't prove it. Maybe we'll never find out who the bombers were, but what matters is that we survived, all thanks to you."

"Yeah…but I still can't shake this feeling,"

"Maybe you're not shaking hard enough," Jake said, giving Finn a playful little quake, "Look, it's best not to think about it. We're moving on from this adventure to the next, so we shouldn't concern ourselves with the small details."

"Hmm…I guess you're right," Finn said.

"Of course I'm right. I'm the one who taught you everything you know about adventuring," Jake said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. So, where do go from here, oh map master?" Finn asked.

"Well, we're over here near the Ashley Manor," Jake said, noting a picture of a creepy looking mansion, "from here, we head over to the Shoe Kingdom, then we weave our way through a mile of wheat fields, then we head over to the Gourmet Kingdom, around Mt. Hot Stuff, through the Jungle Kingdom, pass some old ruins, pass by the Robot Kingdom, through a ghost town, across Rainbow Land, go between the Metal Kingdom and Cat Kingdom, and we'll arrive at the Dancing Kingdom."

"…" Finn comprehended the extent of the journey Jake was telling him, "…that's an awful lot of places to adventure through."

"Well, no one said this would be easy," Jake said, rolling up the map and putting it back in his pack, "we're not even halfway there to the Dancing Kingdom. I did warn you about how long this journey would take."

"Yeah, but, that was before the train blowing up."

"True," Jake said, "But it doesn't change the fact that we're walking our way to the Dancing Kingdom now."

"I just hope we make it in time," Finn said.

* * *

"My liege," a rock ogre said to a device in his hand, "the bombs were detonated successfully, except for the ones atop the train carts."

"Were there any survivors?" a voice, garbled by the static, said.

"Everyone on board the train survived, including the giant centipede working the engine."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I know, I don't understand it either. Surely, all of those explosives should've killed the big bug."

"No! I don't care about the centipede! Are you sure everyone survived?"

"Well, there was this boy with a weird hat."

"And?"

"He's the one who saved the centipede. Such heroism, I must admit."

"Are you telling me he survived?"

"Well, yeah."

"Hrrmmm, humans have been known to survive through the worst. I underestimated him…"

"My liege…?"

"You've done enough. Report back to your job."

"Yes, my liege," the rock ogre said, turning off the device.

He put away the little gadget and looked back at the wreckage of the train.

'Lately, the king has been a bit…absent,' he thought, 'coming up with this plan was just out of nowhere, putting fake bombs on the roofs while henchmen planted bombs in the engine. He sounded really concerned about that human boy…'

He breathed deeply, heaving a big sigh as he turned to the giant centipede receiving medical treatment.

'Still, he risked a lot of lives with this plan. And I'm out of a job for a while. Whatever the king was thinking, he's probably losing his mind.'

'What's wrong with you, Matthias?'

**~End of Chapter 4~**

I didn't expect this chapter to be so long. Sorry about that! Oh, who am I kidding? You like long chapters like these. I can't promise that all of the chapters will be as long as this one, but they'll be pretty close.

Anyway, Finn and Jake are going to the Dancing Kingdom on foot while NEPTR is going on his own journey. And it seems their old enemies' science cat and land shark are going to try to track them down. All of this seems ominous but it will all tie up in the end.

One last little note. Don't expect the next chapter to come anytime soon. I'm trying to work on other stories I've been procrastinating to finish, so the next chapter might come around in a month or two, because of work and my laziness. Don't stop reviewing my story, though, because it's like a salary to me.

_**Next Chapter: Deep within the Sole Mines**_

"_I've never seen a mineshaft before."_

"_Who'd put a trap in here? I thought these mines were abandoned."_

"_The discovery of these mines led to the foundation of the Shoe Kingdom."_

"_It was here that husbands and boyfriends from all over the world toiled and slaved themselves on their woman's whim."_

"_That's a crud load of craze for a bunch of silly shoes." _

"_You think…maybe…Bubblegum would like one of these?"_

"_These shoes are studded with diamonds and gems!"_

"_I'm sorry, but now that you have discovered the secret shaft, I cannot let you leave, alive!"_

Come see the next chapter when it's finished!


	5. Deep Within the Sole Mines

Hello everybody! How long have you been waiting for me? A month? Well, don't worry, I'm back.

Anyway, I have an important announcement for all of my readers. From now on, 'Finn and Jake's Magnificent Adventure!' will be uploaded at LandofOoo dot com a day earlier than Fanfiction dot net. The link is in my profile. Over there, you can participate in topics about the story, I will personally answer any questions you have about the story, and even get some insight for future chapters. The forum itself is fun, too. You can participate in roleplays, talk about episodes, even watch episodes of Adventure Time for free! Join the forums!

Don't forget to review my story here. Review whether or not you have an account, here or at the website.

Be on the lookout for that snail, man!

Disclaimer: I want to own Adventure time, but then it'll suck. Which is why it doesn't belong to me.

**Chapter 5 summary:** Finn and Jake discover the Sole Mines, as well as a poverty cursed kingdom. But when they get too close to discovering a secret, things turn into a life and death situation for our heroes.

**Deep within the Sole Mines**

"We've been walking for hours," Finn complained, "I haven't seen any Shoe Kingdom yet."

"Of course we haven't," Jake retorted, "Ooo isn't a small island or something. It's a huge country."

"I didn't think it'd be super huge. We went to many cool places before and they weren't so far apart."

"They were. You would ride on me for us to get there and it's quicker on my back."

Finn groaned.

"By the way, why won't you let me ride on your back? It'd be faster that way."

"I already told you. My arms and legs are tired from removing the duck tape off of those bombs back on the train. I can't carry you."

"Why can't you just turn big?"

"Because then my arms and legs would get sore from carrying my weight and yours."

Finn sighed hard. He hated not riding Jake for such a long time, not because he missed the smooth feel of wind against his face, but because of what time they were losing by not moving as fast as they can. Using Jake's powers, they could easily travel Ooo at their maximum pace and make it to the Dancing Kingdom in record time, but at the moment, Jake's limbs were still sore from the fiasco back on the Forever Train. It was of top priority that Finn and Jake make it to the Dancing Kingdom in less than a month, and if Ooo is as huge as Jake says it is, it was all the more important that they make it to the Dancing Kingdom before Bubblegum's birthday.

The sun was drifting off listlessly under the horizon, casting a last wave of sunlight on the pale land before it. Crows and birds cawed at the arrival of dusk as it was getting darker by the minute. Jake began to get concerned about traveling during the night, especially since the two were so tired. Seeing a random boulder and tree in the distance, Jake decided now was a good time to set up camp and rest.

"Hey Finn, let's rest," Jake said, pulling his bag off his back.

"What? No! We can't rest now!" Finn said, "We have to get to the Dancing Kingdom before the end of the month!"

"Finn, I'm tired and so are you. We should rest so that we can be prepared for anything tomorrow."

"I'm not tired. And if you want to sleep, fine. I'll carry you if I have to."

"Shut up, man. You're talking nonsense," Jake said before he quickly headed over to the rock and tree spot, setting his bag down on the ground.

"I mean it, Jake," Finn said, "I'm not tired at-"

Without warning, Jake extended his arms towards Finn and made a loud clap with his hands. Finn flinched and shut his eyes, for about three seconds.

"Heh, two for flinching," Jake said.

"That doesn't count, you weren't close to me!" Finn said before his eyes fell back closed again.

Finn's eyes burned whenever he closed his eyes, but whenever he tried to open them, his eyes would just close themselves again. A deep breath welled up in his chest before Finn let loose a deep yawn. Finn hated to admit it, but Jake was right. He was really tired. Sleep had managed to penetrate his insomnia through a weak spot and was begging him to rest his body. Finn tried to ignore the faintness in his muscles and tried to push the thought of sleep out of his head, but the moment he saw his sleeping bag being set up by Jake, he had given in to the desire and walked towards his bag.

"Maybe I will get some sleep…" Finn admitted.

"Good boy, Finn. Sleep is very important for a young man like you," Jake said as he pulled out his own little doggy bed.

"Hey, I'm not that young. I'm thirteen," Finn remarked, taking off his backpack and setting it and his suitcase aside so that he could enter his sleeping bag.

"Still quite young," Jake said, sitting down in his dog bed while letting off a yawn.

Finn watched his dog get cozy in his bed as the sunlight finally abandoned the land, letting darkness blanket over the country.

"Hey Jake?" Finn asked.

"Yeah?"

"We haven't camped out like this since forever, you know?"

"Yeah, it's been a while," Jake said.

"I remember the campfires, the marshmallows, the ghost stories, messing with Megasquatch," Finn said, listing the best memories of ever camping out in the wilderness.

"Don't forget our stuff getting stolen by evil raccoon zombie residents," Jake pointed out.

"Yeah…oh, that reminds me."

Finn reached for his suitcase and opened it, reaching for a bottle inside. It was a grey potion with the words 'Watcher' on its sticker. Undoing the cap, Finn leaned the potion above the ground near him and let fall a little drop. As soon as the potion hit the earth, a figure quickly erupted from the ground, taking the form of a scarecrow on a stick. The scarecrow was pretty basic with a raggedy shirt, dirty pats, and straw hat, but it had a pumpkin head with a very creepy face carved into it. Not only that, it had two soulless eyes on its head that would stare at anyone looking directly at it, thanks to the optical illusion of the carving.

Capping the potion and putting it back in his suitcase, Finn put aside his stuff and tucked himself in his sleeping bag, now comfortable knowing that a watchful eye would keep thieves and monsters away with its creepy stare and horrific eyes.

"Good idea, Finn," Jake said.

"I came prepared, you know."

"So you did," Jake yawned, "Goodnight."

"Night."

Finn lied back on his head, staring out at the stars and planets above him. He wondered about all kinds of stuff that happens in space and the wonders of space travel. Space had always fascinated Finn, since it was such a foreign place to him and full of unknown wonders and adventures. He wasn't ever concerned with the technical stuff, all he cared about was the thrill of the adventure. He never stared out into the night sky very often, mostly because he slept under a roof or he was too busy adventuring to notice. But whenever he did, he would envision himself riding on space comets, slaying space gnomes and defeating space pirates and stealing their space treasure. Oh the mysteries of space.

"I bet Princess Bubblegum knows a lot about space," Finn said to himself, yawning.

Finn shook his head. He didn't want to think about the dear princess not because he still held a grudge, but because the very thought of her would lead back to the heartbreak a day ago, and he wanted to avoid those depressing thoughts. Finn closed his eyes hoping to sleep quickly to shut down those thoughts, and sleep he did as his mind drifted off into a different plane of reality.

_He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a red, barren planet. The sky was absent of a cloud or the normal blue veil of light but was naked, showing the stars and planets that were in the scope of the planets face. Finn looked around the empty scenery, wondering where he was, as he saw nothing but craters and hills across the planet's hemisphere._

"_What the heck is this place?" he asked himself._

_Finn, finding nothing in front of him, decided to look behind himself only to find a large white building a stone's throw away from his position. It had many pillars holding the roof and a strange red, white, and blue flag waving atop the house. _

"_Wow, it's like a big, white house," Finn commented._

_He noticed that the front door was open, waving listlessly open and closed, and figured he might as well take a look inside. Stepping onto the concrete steps, it only occurred to Finn just how big the building was. It had a sense of leadership and freedom in its air, with a welcoming feel to the honest and righteous. Finn casually opened the door like he would any other abandoned house and his first impression of the interior was how clean and tidy the inside was, despite being empty and silent. He could feel the lush carpet under him squish as his foot pressed against it, no wheeze of dust or dirt nor a speck of filth under the soft carpet. Finn was simply astounded by how clean everything was, and he had only seen the lobby of the building._

_Stepping towards a desk, he looked around and noticed the same red, white, and blue pattern design everywhere inside, usually with a picture of an eagle. He looked behind the desk only to see an empty chair and a computer monitor that was off. Though the building was well lit and clean, it was clearly abandoned. _

"_Hello?" Finn asked as his voice echoed through the halls._

_Receiving no response, Finn decided to explore the mysterious building by checking doors and looking through cabinets. He was disappointed to find that all of the doors were locked and that the cabinets were empty, but he continued his exploration by walking down a hallway. Doorknob after doorknob, Finn would feel resistance and move on to the next door, walking further and further down the halls. After a few turns in the hallway and more locked doors, Finn found a short hallway with only one door at the end and it had the picture of a bird with a white head, a shield with stars and stripes, and the words 'Liberty and Justice for All' on a sash wrapped around the picture. _

_Finn hesitated to grab the doorknob, anticipating it might just be another locked door. With a firm grip on the doorknob, he slowly gave it a little twist. No resistance. He twisted further. Still, no resistance. Finn's interest piqued as he had found an unlocked door, twisting the knob all the way and letting the door slide open. To his amazement, the door led to a large circular room, with two couches opposite of each other, a fancy coffee table in between, a grand important looking desk situated before some windows, and a luxurious leather chair behind that desk, only, the chair was facing the windows. A large rug lay under the furniture, bearing the same symbol of the bird and the shield on the door leading to this room. Next to the desk was a sizable flag with a red, white, and blue pattern and a figure of an eagle atop the pole. The windows were garnished with fancy blue and white curtains with a short red and white stripes patterned drapery above the window. _

"_Holy stuff," Finn uttered, taking in the amazing décor of the room._

_He walked on into the room as he continued to absorb the royal feel of the room. Little did he know that he wasn't the only person in the room._

"_I take it you are impressed?" a rough voice spoke out, taking Finn by surprise._

"_Who said that?" Finn asked, looking at the chair, where the voice came from._

_The chair turned around revealing an old man in a brown suit and a bowtie. He looked to be somewhere in his fifties and had a rough beard. He stood up from the chair and held his hand out toward Finn._

"_My name is Abraham Lincoln," he said._

"_Oh, uh," Finn hesitated to reach for his hand because the man emitted a strong sense of presence that Finn had not felt before, but eventually their hands met "I'm Finn."_

"_I know," Abe said, releasing his grip._

_Finn looked at his hand, Abraham's hand felt rough and wrinkly, as if he had held an axe before._

"_So, where is this place?" he asked._

"_You're in the Dream Plane," Abe said, "You've been here before many times during your life."_

"_I have?"_

"_Yes, only that this is the first time we met." _

"_Wait, if this is the first time we met, how did you know my name?" Finn asked._

"_I'll be honest, I don't know," he answered, "but it's as if I've known you for years and your name came up when I looked at you."_

"_Huh, weird…" Finn said as he looked around the room again, "So… is all of this in my head?"_

"_Well, yes and no."_

"_What do you mean?" the human boy said, turning back to Lincoln._

"_This building used to exist a long time ago, in a far away country," Abe said, turning around to face the window, "the world has changed heavily since then."_

"_So, why is it in my dream?" Finn asked._

"_It may be because I'm here, since I used to live in this house a long time ago," he answered, looking out the window into the void of space._

"_Wait, if this house used to be real, does that mean…?"_

"_That's enough questions Finn," Abraham interrupted, turning back to face the boy, "I have something very important to tell you."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Finn, you are going to fight a great evil soon, a fight you are not ready for," Lincoln said as he seated himself back in his chair._

"_What do you mean I'm not ready?" Finn question, skeptical, "I'm a kick butt hero."_

"_When I say 'great evil' I mean a 'top of the shelf evil'. This is a villain that is even stronger than the vampire queen."_

"_You mean…Marceline?" Finn said._

"_Yes. This is a villain that could easily dispatch a legendary hero like Billy."_

_Finn gulped. By comparison, he knew that Marceline was a very strong fighter from experience and he had heard of the tales of Billy. Knowing that he would eventually have to fight a villain stronger than the vampire queen and could easily slay a hero like Billy, Finn felt his confidence dwindle just thinking about this potential threat._

_The waning confidence passed, however, as Finn reassured himself with his naivety._

"_Oh yeah? Well, bring it on Abe!" Finn said, doing a back flip and posing, pointing both fingers at him, "I can handle any evil out there and defeat any villain that stands for injustice and vileness." _

"_You have confidence," Lincoln said, folding his hands together, "That is admirable, but if you do not prepare yourself before the fight, you will be dead before you draw your sword."_

"_Pfft, I don't need any training," Finn said, drawing his sword and holding it up, "I can kick butt and save the day. That's the hero way."_

"_Even hero's needed training before slaying great evils," Abe said._

"_Yeah, that's true," Finn sheathed his sword as he said this, "so, what's this training I need?"_

_Abraham reached down for a drawer and opened it. He withdrew several pieces of paper and a pen and held up one of them. Finn took interest and walked closer to see if he can take a peek._

"_Fate is a funny thing," Abe said as he clicked his pen, "it isn't a coincidence you are on an adventure to the Dancing Kingdom."_

"_It isn't?"_

"_No. This adventure will test the various aspects of heroism you uphold and if you are worthy of upholding the ways of the hero. You will come across various intermissions that will test you on a heroic attribute, such as courage, justice, valor, and such. If you have passed all of these tests, your adventure will be over, and you will do battle with a great evil, pitting all that you have learned in the adventure as your strength to use against this villain."_

"_Wow…" Finn uttered, leaning on his desk, "…so, what is the name of this evil?"_

"_I'm afraid I do not know," Abe answered._

"…_but you know all this junk about my destiny and such. How can you not know who my opponent will be?" Finn said, putting his hands on the president's desk._

"_I simply don't know, Finn," he said as he wrote something on the paper, "if I did know, I'd tell you."_

"_Or, maybe, you're just lying," Finn said, snatching the paper out of the old man's hand._

_Finn was surprised to see that the paper was just a crossword puzzle, with some words crossed out such as courage, and valor. He was expecting some mystical paper or a script Abe had rehearsed before. The old president kindly retrieved the paper from Finn's grip._

"_No, Finn, I never lie," he said._

"_Err, sorry about that, Abe," Finn said while he rubbed his left arm._

"_Apology accepted. Now, Finn, there are other things I should tell you about," Lincoln said as he set down the paper and pen._

"_Uh, but, can I ask you some questions first?" Finn asked._

"_Like?"_

"_Well, are you…you know…" Finn looked down at the floor, holding up his hands and tapping his fingertips against each other, "human?"_

"_Yes. So?"_

_Finn gasped. He had never met another human before, frankly, because he thought he was the last one left. But before his very being stood, or sat, another human like him, even if it was all just a dream._

_But wait._

_If all of this was just a dream, how was he sure Abe was really a human? He had met so many other ambiguously human beings that whenever he met someone humanlike he'd pass them off as a variation of them. He wasn't going to be disappointed again._

"_Are you sure you're human and I'm not just imagining all of this?" Finn asked, demonstrating he skepticism by waving his hands above him as he spoke._

"_Finn, I assure you that I would never lie," Abe said, "That's why they called me Honest Abe."_

"_Then what happened to all of the humans?" he asked._

"_Again, I don't know," the president said, looking down and closing his eyes._

"_If you really were human, you'd know what happened to them," Finn said as he crossed his arms._

"_Finn, I was assassinated long before the end of the world. How should I know what happened to the planet?"_

_An odd silence cursed the room as Finn processed his words._

"_Uhh, good point."_

"_Now Finn, this won't be the last time we'll meet," Lincoln said as he picked up the paper and pen again, "but you must understand that when we do meet again, there will be some things I know and don't know. I would honestly tell you the name of your true opponent, I would, but something is repressing my memory to prevent me from telling you."_

"_Aww, I would've liked knowing that stuff," Finn said, disappointed. _

"_I feel that this repression is connected to your adventure, as in, to contribute to your development. It is better for you to figure out this stuff on your own rather than me telling you everything."_

"_Well, I guess so… I mean, as long as it helps me become a better hero and stuff, I'm not complaining," Finn said._

"_Excellent, you understand. That was easier than I thought," Abe said before he drew a line on his puzzle, "Now, it is almost morning in the Awake Plane. You are going to wake up soon."_

"_Huh?"_

_Abraham was right. The room was getting darker and more transparent as Finn felt himself slowly fade away from the dream. _

"_No! Wait! I have more questions!" Finn said out loud as he tried to run towards Abe, but found himself being pulled back by some unknown force._

_The pull was too great and flung Finn backwards as the room was quickly dimming to total darkness, blanketing Abraham and absorbing Finn. Finn expected to hit a wall or something hard, but he felt himself continuously flying deep into the darkness. His eyes began to close and they felt heavier the further he flew. Eventually, Finn shut his eyes and allowed himself to be swallowed by the shadows, shunning all noise and leaving the dream._

_The last words he heard were, 'Heed my words, Finn. This will be your greatest adventure yet!'_

…

**Dawn of Day 2 - 30 Days Remaining**

Finn opened his eyes, catching the night sky before the sun would rise. He felt like he had been absolved of fatigue, no longer feeling tired or sleepy. He rose out of his sleeping bag and reviewed his dream, thinking about what it had meant. Sitting upright, he instinctively spread his arms and stretched, letting escape a small yawn, and looked over at Jake, who was still sleeping in his doggy bed. Finn looked down and recollected the dream. He remembered the strange space setting, the big, white house, and that man who called himself Abraham Lincoln, or Abe for short. But what disturbed him most was what all of it meant, and how different the dream was from other dreams he had. They were usually weird and Finn would forget most of them, but this one he remembered every tidbit and detail of the encounter, right down to the color of Abe's bowtie.

"Test of heroism?" Finn said silently.

Finn shook his head. He was dealing with enough problems such as Bubblegum's wedding; he didn't need to be bothered by a test now. And besides, he wasn't going to get anywhere just by wondering about it. The faster this whole adventure is settled, the better.

Finn got out of his sleeping bag and walked over to wake up Jake.

"Hey Jake, it's morning. Time to get up," he said as he shook the dog.

"…Mmm, gimme some peanut butter…" Jake mumbled in his sleep.

Finn chuckled. He liked hearing Jake sleep talk, even if what he says is disturbing. However, Finn wanted to get to the Dancing Kingdom as quickly as he could, so he couldn't allow Jake to sleep in. Finn gave Jake a quick smack in the jowls, causing him to snort and awaken.

"Ow! Finn, I thought I told you not to wake me up like that," Jake complained, one paw over his muzzle.

"Sorry, Jake," Finn shrugged his shoulders, "But we can't waste any time on our adventure to the Dancing Kingdom, so no sleeping in."

Jake reeled over to his side, "Can it wait for another five minutes? I'm not used to waking up early."

"Fine," Finn said, Jake can be stubborn when he wanted to, "I'll be packing up everything here, and when I'm done, you better be up and about."

"Fair enough," Jake said, pulling his blanket over him while Finn went to fold his sleeping bag.

First, he unzipped the bag and held it by the corners so that he could whip it in the air, to get rid of any dirt or other debris that crept into the bag the previous night. After a few good cracks, he folded the bag corner by corner while keeping it from touching the ground, so that it wouldn't get dirty again. With the bag now a neat square, he opened his suitcase he had set aside last night and placed it in its designated spot besides the potions.

Looking at the potions, Finn remembered the scarecrow he had set up the previous night. He closed the suitcase and turned to the inanimate object to his right. The scarecrow had not moved or changed since it had been summoned, and none of their stuff had been stolen or tampered with. With its job done, Finn tugged at a string tying its 'feet' to the wooden pole. With the knot undone, the legs fell loose and Finn stood up and congratulated the doll for a job well done.

"Good work, scarecrow guy. You're free to eat all of the birds you can find," Finn said.

Suddenly, as if by magic, the scarecrow began lifting up into the sky. Its feet and legs moved as if it was trying to swim. Free from the binds of the rope, if flew off in an unknown direction, towards a flock of birds passing by. As Finn turned to Jake, the sound of many birds perishing echoed.

"Ok Jake, all done. You up yet?" he asked.

Jake yawned in response.

"Yeah, I guess so. Just warming myself up for the day," Jake said, getting up from his dog bed.

Jake reached for his bag, which he had set on a nearby tree, and opened it, stuffing his doggy bed inside. Slipping his arms into the knots, he set it on his back, ready for adventure.

"You ready for adventure, Finn?" Jake said as he grew in size.

"You bet!" Finn said excitedly, jumping onto his friends back.

"Then off to the Dancing Kingdom we go!" Jake yelled.

"Yeah, man! It's Adventure Time!" Finn shouted.

And so, the boy and dog resumed their adventure towards the Dancing Kingdom as the sun rose above the horizons. With Jake having grown several times in size, they could easily reach their destination in a matter of minutes. This adventure was going to be a piece of cake.

A few hours later…

"…some adventure this is," Finn mumbled, slouching on Jake's back.

For the past few hours, all they had been doing was walking. Just that. Walking. The scenery around them did change such as the grass turning greener and more trees as they walked, but nothing exciting had happened. According to Jake, their next destination was the Shoe kingdom. At least, it _was_ suppose to be the Shoe Kingdom.

"Jake, we've been walking for hours and no sign of any Shoe Kingdom!" Finn complained.

"Finn, when I said Ooo was a big country," Jake said, without a hint of irritancy, "I meant a BIG country. We aren't going to reach the Shoe Kingdom lickety-split."

"I'd like to think we would've been there by now," Finn continued to complain, "Can't you go any faster?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Finn. Can you turn into a giant and stretch abnormally?" Jake mockingly questioned.

"I'm just saying, you can turn bigger and walk faster than this," he said as he sat up on the dogs back.

"It's called 'preserving energy'. Growing that size and running that fast uses up much of my metabolism," Jake explained.

"Uhh, in English?"

"I'll get hungry faster, and we didn't pack much food."

Finn groaned, "Well, what am I suppose to do while you're taking us there?"

"Well, we should use this time to consider our priorities," Jake said.

"Priorities?" Finn said.

"Yeah. It's a basic lesson of adventuring."

Finn took a moment to look back into his memory. He learned all about adventuring from Jake, but he couldn't seem to recall any lesson about priorities.

"Jake, you taught me all about adventuring, but you never mentioned 'priorities'," Finn pointed out.

"Huh, I didn't?" Jake asked. Jake scrunched his forehead in thought, trying to recall the lessons he taught Finn. He vaguely remembered reading the subject in a book, but he skipped to a different chapter because the lesson was irrelevant. "Oh yeah. I remember now. The lesson involved long term adventuring, and since I didn't think we'd be adventuring so far away from home, I skipped that one."

"Well, now's a good time as ever to start the lesson. I have to learn these things if I want to be a great adventurer," Finn said, laying on his stomach and ready for Jake to talk.

"Well, from what I remember," Jake said, "there are three important things for adventurers when they are on a long journey; food, water, and rest."

"Uh huh," Finn uttered.

"It isn't uncommon for adventurers to travel light since most of the time, there are villages on the way to their destination that provide all three. But in such a case, money is important since even heroes have to pay for these services."

"Oh, yeah. I did pack some gold," Finn remembered, "…too bad most of it was wasted on the train ride…"

"Yeah, that sucks," Jake said, "We're not gonna get far with just four gold pieces and six dollops."

"Don't worry, we'll just eat what nature provides us," Finn reassured.

"That's a great way of thinking, Finn," Jake said, turning his head to see Finn in the corner of his eye, "That also happens to be one of the lessons."

Finn smiled to himself. He knew he was thinking like an adventurer when he thought of an idea that was actually in the book that taught him. At the very least, he was one step closer to becoming a fully fledged adventurer, and that made him happy.

"Ok, the next thing about priorities is knowing what you need to look for in the next town you visit," Jake continued, turning his head forward to see where he was walking, "Food and water can be provided by the town's restaurant or really nice people, while resting in towns allows you to take breaks safely and reassess your goal. But if the town doesn't have a restaurant, you can try and ask a homeowner for food, but never flaunt your heroism to them. That is rude and abuse of your status, a violation of the hero's code."

"That makes sense," Finn said, "I mean, I'd never flaunt my hero name and expect something in return. That's just jerky."

"Yeah, heroes must always retain their obligations. Never ask for food unless offered, unless you are starving to death. There's another section related to eating in the wild, but that's another topic."

"Yeah, yeah, about eating berries and fruits, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And meat, too," Finn said as he looked up at the sky, until he thought a bit more about the subject of meat, "Hey Jake, where does meat come from?"

"Huh?"

"Meat comes from nature, right? So, where would we get it?" he asked.

"Uhh…" Jake had never brought himself to tell Finn about where meat came from because he was worried he would freak out. Jake knew he had to tell Finn sometime, but there was always the concern that his heroism would clash with his omnivorous diet. Half of the edible animals in Ooo were sentient, and turning into a vegetarian wasn't an option either, since most of the world's vegetables went extinct after the last apocalypse.

"You'll find out when you're older, Finn," Jake simply answered.

"Aww, you have to let me know some things," Finn whined, "You said the same thing when I saw you and Rainicorn-"

"Uh, Finn, we should move on to the next segment," Jake said quickly with beads of sweat on the side of his face, changing the subject to avoid remembering that embarrassing moment.

"Alright, fine," Finn gave in, but not before he leaned into Jake's ear and said, "but you will teach me those wrestling moves."

"Uhh…heheh, uh, yeah, sure," Jake replied putting on a fake smile, "But let's get serious, onto the next tidbit."

"Okay," Finn sat upright on his back again, waiting for the next lecture.

"Hm, what else was in that book…" Jake muttered, "Oh! Weapons. If the town ahead has a blacksmith, be sure to always have him inspect your weapon for any defects or repairs. You can't fight evil if your weapon isn't as strong as you are."

At this, Finn reached for his sword and unsheathed it, holding it in the air as he stared at it. Even though Finn wasn't a blacksmith, he could see the painfully conspicuous scratches and dents lined up on the blades edge. It lacked luster and looked almost rickety, even for gold. Finn had never taken notice of his swords condition until now and he felt bad for it, almost like he neglected a trusted friend who had done so much for him. He felt like he had to return the favor somehow.

"Yeah… I guess I could stop by at the blacksmith in the next town," Finn admitted.

"Mmhm," Jake hummed, "It's a miracle that thing can still cut."

"I hope it doesn't cost much…" Finn said.

"Fixing a sword made of gold isn't as easy as it…huh?"

"What is it, Jake?" Finn said, sheathing his sword.

"I see something up ahead, like a mountain," Jake said, squinting his eyes.

"Is it the Shoe Kingdom?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that isn't it. We'd have seen the castle a few yards back."

"Well, giddy up, Jake. We aren't going to find out any sooner at this pace," Finn said, butting his heels into Jake's fur.

"Alright, dude. Whatever you say," Jake said.

Jake paused a bit, easing his body into sprinting position. With a sudden jolt, Jake was running at fast speed, only because he was making long strides with his legs. He was really jogging. But to Finn, he might as well be running twice as fast as Finn could run. The fierce winds atop the running beast reminded Finn of the incident back at the Forever Train and the mysterious identity of the bombers, but as Jake would say, 'Adventurers move on from one adventure to another. It's best not to be concerned with minor details.'

In a matter of seconds, the two reached the mysterious mountain, only to see that it was much smaller up close. The rock was a different color from the ground, colored much like the walls in a dungeon, and was pretty wide despite not being a mountain.

"This is it?" Finn asked as Jake shrunk back to his normal size, "an ordinary rock mound?"

Finn hopped off of Jake's back and walked towards the mound. Jake reached for his bag to get the map.

"Hm, maybe this rock is a landmark on the map," Jake said, opening the map.

Finn touched the rock with his hand. It felt really rough like he expected, unfortunately that seemed to be the only possible thrilling discovery he'll have about this rock.

"Lame. I was expecting something super cool, like a rock dragon, or a spaceship," Finn said to himself.

"Hey Finn!" Jake said, running over to him with the map, "the map says we're close to the Shoe Kingdom."

"Cool, we should head there and look for a blacksmith," Finn said as he looked at the map Jake was holding.

"But this rock isn't an ordinary rock," Jake pointed to the rock illustrated on the map with his free foot, "This is the Sole Mines."

"Soul mines?" Finn asked.

"No, Sole mines," Jake corrected.

"Uh, that's what I said…" Finn replied, confused.

"The Shoe Kingdom happens to be famous for the Sole Mines," Jake said as he rolled up the map, "Beaten only by their fabulous shoe refineries."

"So…what exactly is the Sole Mines so famous for?" Finn asked.

Jake put away the map into his bag, "I'll show you. Let's look for the entrance."

Jake, and soon Finn, walked around the walls of the enormous rock. Finn was still not amused about the place. He could care less about shoes, so what would be so interesting about some mines near the Shoe Kingdom? Granted he had never seen mines before, but if it was anything like the dungeons he used to explore, he had seen it all before.

Eventually, Finn and Jake saw what looked like rails around the corner. Finn immediately took interest because they reminded him of train tracks and it was easy to note the similarity, considering the events of the previous day.

"Railroads?" he asked.

"Yeah, mines have them," Jake answered, "only they don't carry trains, but mine carts."

Maybe there was more to mines than he thought, Finn thought to himself as he placed a finger near his chin.

After another turn around the corner, Finn and Jake came upon the entrance of the mines. Wooden bars held the entrance up and railroad tracks filed out of the entrance from the left side. Within the cave, there was a mine cart sitting on the tracks, probably left unattended for years.

"Whoa," Jake uttered.

Finn, however, was not impressed.

It wasn't that he found mines fascinating. Actually, he had seen this sort of thing a million times already. Being an adventurer, he was used to staring down the entrances of caves or other ominous entrances with creepy atmosphere or daunting darkness. This was considered 'meh' to him, like comparing a bike to a motorcycle. It was too normal.

"It's not that scary," Finn said.

"C'mon Finn, let's check it out," Jake said as he walked inside.

"But Jake," Finn called out, "What about our real adventure?"

"We got plenty of time for that. C'mon in, the darkness is fine," Jake said as the cave echoed his words.

Finn groaned and followed his friend into the cave. As he walked past the mine cart, he looked inside and saw a pile of shoes in it. From high heels to casual wear, Finn thought it was strange for there to be a pile like that. However, he ultimately disregarded it and continued walking on inward, eventually coming into a large room in the mine. It was too dark to see anything, except for his dog whose color could be seen with what little light there was. He was bent over, looking at something.

"Hey Finn, I think I found the generator," he exclaimed.

With the flick of a switch, the room was beginning to light up with light bulbs lining the walls. Finn looked around as the room slowly illuminated, but what he could see astounded him.

"Whoa…"

The room was much bigger than he thought. There were ledges on the walls with shiny minerals glistening in the rock. There were mounds of rock and dirt here and there on the floor. The mine cart tracks from the entrance split into several other tracks, some tracks lead nowhere while others lead deeper into the mines through tunnels. But the most conspicuous thing about the room was the massive pile of shoes in all shapes and sizes in a corner of the room. This place wasn't a dungeon, but it had a very strong industrial feel in the atmosphere and that was what made it very different from a dungeon.

"I've never seen a mineshaft before…" Finn said to himself.

Finn began to wander in the room. He could easily see the amount of labor left in the room, seeing some very craggy walls with pickaxes littered on the ground. Upon closer inspection, Finn noticed that there were imprints of shoes in the wall, along with more shoes littering the ground near the base of the wall. Finn walked closer to the walls to see and pressed his hand against the imprints. It was the perfect shape of a boot. Looking down on the ground, he noticed a boot with a similar shape to the one in the wall. He picked it up, looked at the impression, and curiously plugged the boot into the slot.

"A perfect fit," Finn said, the shoe easily shaped into the wall.

"Huh, some of these shoes have rocks in them," Jake commented, picking up some shoes from the massive pile.

"So Jake," Finn said, walking towards him, "Is this where the Shoe Kingdom got all of its shoes?"

"I guess so," he said, sniffing a sneaker.

"You guess so?" Finn repeated, "I thought you knew about this place."

"I remember a long time ago about my parents talking about this place," Jake said, remembering when he was a pup, "Mom wanted Dad to go work at these mines, mainly to get some cute shoes for her."

"Huh, yeah. I think I remember something like that," Finn said, briefly remembering the argument, "how come he didn't go?"

"Because he had an actual job as a news reporter, and the mines were way too far away. It was tough convincing Mom but he managed to do it, except she wouldn't live it down for a few years."

"Hmm," Finn hummed, turning to look at one of the tunnels. There weren't any signs of people working, no hammering, no drilling, no grunting. It was as if the whole place was abandoned. "So, what happened to the mines?" Finn asked.

"How should I know?" Jake responded.

"Well, let's take a look around. We might find some clues around here," Finn said, walking into the nearest tunnel.

"Uh, Finn," Jake said, cautiously following him, "Don't you think wandering aimlessly into tunnels is a bit of a safety hazard?"

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, still walking.

"I mean, what if these mines are abandoned because the caves are unstable?" he said, staying close to Finn.

"Don't be scared, Jake," Finn said, "besides, if that was a danger, there would have been a sign that said something like that."

As Finn was saying thing, the two wandered into a tunnel left of a split with a big red, square sign above the entrance. It had the picture of a skull on it and read 'Danger! Collapsible Cavern! Do not enter!' The two failed to notice the eyesore of a sign and continued down into the tunnel with naivety.

They did notice, however, that the further they went into the tunnel, the darker it got. There weren't any light bulbs or torches lining the walls like the other tunnels had. And also, the tunnel was not lined with rails. Naturally, Finn got suspicious.

"Huh, why aren't there any lights or tracks here?" he asked.

"Maybe because the guy setting them up got kidnapped by giant cave worms," Jake said, shaking.

"Jake, stop clinging to my leg like that," Finn said, looking at the dog clutching him liked a scared child, "it's hard to wa- WAH!"

"Finn!" Jake yelled in surprise.

To Jake's relief, Finn merely tripped. He lifted himself up off the ground, shaking his head of daze, when he noticed a nearly invisible string hovering above the ground near him.

"Huh? A wire?" Finn said, instinctively tugging at the string.

The string was resistant to his tugging, as if it was tightly tied to something heavy. Finn pulled at it more, finding that it could be stretched further. Unbeknownst to him, the string was wired to a trigger in the ceiling, and the more he tugged, the closer the trigger was going to snap.

"Uh, Finn…" Jake said, noticing the crackle of rocks loosening in the ceiling.

Finn pulled the wire as much as he could until it broke with a loud snap. He only then noticed the sound of rocks moving above him. Looking up, the ceiling suddenly gave way to an avalanche of rocks.

"IT'S A TRAP!"

SMASH!

…

…

…

"…that…was close…" Finn gasped.

In an instinctive reflex, Finn hopped backwards to avoid the rocks from crushing him. If he had reacted even a bit late, he might have been crushed under the falling rocks. Finn panted deeply for that he had a close brush with death. Although he didn't even remember moving out of the way of being flattened, he wasn't going to question that.

Jake, seeing Finn safe, walked close to the collapsed rocks. He bent down on one knee to see little bit of the string that Finn managed to pull out. A cave in was one thing, but a rigged one was very suspicious.

"Very strange," Jake said, "someone set this trap."

Finn got up off the ground, still shaken by the trap, "Who'd put a trap here? I thought these mines were abandoned."

"Apparently not, if someone had to set up a trap for people like us," Jake said, getting off the ground.

"Hey!" yelled a voice from the opening of the tunnel.

Finn and Jake turned to the direction of the voice only to see the blinding beam of a flashlight. Both of them shielded their eyes from the light, squinting their eyes to see the owner of the flashlight. Eventually, a small person came into view. He looked very much like dwarf, with bluish skin, a white, shaggy beard, and a red pointed hat, but he was wearing what looked like miner attire, which was difficult to see under his beard.

"Oh, it's just a bunch of kids," he said, "What are you kids doing in this cave? Didn't you read the big warning sign in front of the entrance?"

"Uhh, sorry, we got a little lost," Jake said.

"Hey, do you know who set this…" Finn said, but before he could finish, the gnome interrupted him.

"Gasp! Did you guys cause that rock fall?" he said, pointing his light to the massive boulder behind them, "You guys can't be here. We have to leave."

"But, what about the-?" Finn tried to say, but the gnome grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cave before he could say anymore.

Meanwhile, back in the Candy Kingdom Castle, Princess Bubblegum had only just recently learned from her friend Rainicorn that Finn and Jake had embarked on an adventure long before she sent that letter to them. She knew very well that it wasn't her or anyone's fault and it was simply a matter of bad timing, but it all caused accumulated stress and she had to have relief, or else objects will break. So she decided it was best to seek alleviation with a good long shower to clear her mind.

Fortunately, it worked. Bubblegum was at ease after the shower and having combed her hair. Tying the knot around her royal robe and slipping on her marshmallow slippers, she headed out the bathroom door to her chamber nearby so that she could dress. The chilly halls briefly reminded Bubblegum why she was sad as it was very reminiscent of the sadness she felt when Finn broke down in front of her. She still felt guilty about the whole ordeal a few days ago and felt even worse when she thought that Finn wouldn't get her letter in time before the wedding. But that would be an exaggerated thought. It's not like he'll be gone for a whole month, right? Bubblegum believed she had to make things right between her and Finn before the wedding. She just had to…

"Hello, Bubblegum."

Bubblegum jumped at her name, breaking her train of thought. Before her, his back leaning against the wall in a cool way, was Matthew, her soon-to-be husband. Was he waiting for her?

"Uh, hi Matthew. You scared me for a second there," Bubblegum said, faking a smile.

Matthew chuckled, it almost sounded sinister.

"I have that effect on people sometimes," he said, lifting himself off the wall, "Bubblegum, mind telling me about the schedule?"

"Uhh… what do you mean?" she asked. She'd step backwards, but she shunned that thought out of her head as she didn't want to be rude.

"The ugly butler thing told me our wedding is in a month. Why is that?" Matthew folded his arms.

"Uhh…oh! It has to do with my Royal Contract," Bubblegum said, "I forgot to show it to you yesterday because I was busy with other things."

"Oh really?" Matthew inquired, brow raised.

"Yeah, heheh. See, you have to wait a month before we can marry," she said.

"Hmm, that's not how I read it in the contract," Matthew said, finger on his chin.

Bubblegum tensed up at this. She lied to him, and he knew it, yet, how was he able to keep a calm façade?

"If I recall correctly, you can hold back the wedding until the day before your sixteenth birthday, which just so happens to be a month from now," he said as he propped himself against the wall with his hand, legs crossed.

Bubblegum swallowed the lump in her throat.

Matthew let loose a loud laugh.

"Bubblegum, you didn't have to lie to me," he said after drawing in breath, "I mean, sure, it wasn't very nice, but the schedule was entirely your choice. Nothing I could say would help it."

Bubblegum was very surprised to hear this from him. She wasn't sure what to expect, actually, but it definitely wasn't him being so understanding.

"It's your contract. It's your call. We're still getting married, regardless," Matthew said.

Bubblegum knew he was right. They were going to get married in a month and it was her decision to hold the wedding back for that long. And not only that, she lied to him, and he knew it. But wait…

…if he had already read the Contract, why did he ask her about the schedule?

"Uh, I suppose so," Bubblegum responded. She was too tense to have a proper conversation with him. She needed to return to her chambers and calm down, "Matthew, if you don't mind, I need to get to my bedroom."

"Sure thing, dear."

Bubblegum flinched at 'dear'. She was disgusted for some reason. It wasn't that Matthew was repulsive, no, she admits he's quite handsome, but there was just something about him that made her feel sick every time he was around. She couldn't explain this feeling, but it made her want to avoid Matthew as much as she could before the wedding.

As Bubblegum walked beside Matthew, he quickly reached out and grabbed her left shoulder and spun her around with his arm folded around her. Bubblegum found herself facing the opposite way, with Matthew uncomfortably close behind her in a tight hug.

"Oh, and Bubblegum," Matthew said into her ear, "No need to be so tense when we speak. Ease up. It's only marriage…"

Bubblegum shivered as he spoke into her ear. His words had a chilling effect that made her tremble with something not unlike fear. And not only that, he felt cold. Very cold. He had her in an unwanted position and she wanted to break free, but she was too afraid to move.

For the second time that week, she was in an icy imprisonment.

Finally, after what seemed like seconds, Matthew released his grip and calmly walked away, as if nothing ever happened. Bubblegum stood there, still trembling, as the feeling of his cold grip had not left her. She shook her head, hoping to forget the incident ever happened, turned around, and quickly paced her way to her chamber. She was still curious as to why Matthew asked her about the schedule when he had already read the contract. He may have not known why she did it; actually, he didn't even ask. So what was the point of that?

Before Bubblegum reached for the doorknob, it occurred to her what the meaning of that conversation was.

She started to tremble again, this time much more than when Matthew was holding her. She clenched her fist tightly and held back her tears, but as one tear fell from her eye, she slammed her fist into the wall and groaned distressingly. He knew there was no avoiding the marriage, whether it was the next day or a month or two.

He wanted to see her afraid. And he succeeded.

"A trap, you say?" the gnome responded.

"Yeah. It almost killed us," Finn replied.

"It almost killed you," Jake pointed out.

"It almost killed me," Finn repeated.

Finn managed to tell the gnome miner about the trap while they were being dragged out of the mine. At the moment, the two were walking a distance from the mines, heading to a nearby house where office work for the miners were done.

"Hmm, how very strange," the dwarf said, scratching his chin under his beard, "this is the first time I've ever heard of such an incident in all the years I've worked here."

"You worked in the mines?" Jake asked.

"Yep, I worked as the admin miner, keeping all of the other miners in check," the gnome said proudly.

"What exactly did you mine for in their?" Finn asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" the gnome replied, "Shoes!"

"Shoes? Just shoes?"

"Yep. All kinds of shoes, too. Boots, high heels, galoshes, sandals, slippers, tappers, flying shoes, pancake shoes, glass shoes, snail shoes, magic shoes, horn shoes, shoehorns, shoes for bears, shoes for octopuses, shoes for ghosts, super shoes, space shoes, spring shoes, kuribo shoes, dinosaur-"

"Alright! We get it! You mined for a lot of shoes!" Jake interrupted.

"Oh, sorry about that," he apologized, "See, I'm a shoe specialist. Shoes are my life."

"We're adventurers," Finn said, "And adventuring is our life."

"Really? Where ya from?"

"We live between the Candy Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom," Jake said.

"Wow, that's really far away," the gnome said, "May I see your shoe for a second?"

"Uhh," before Finn could answer, the gnome moved in front of Finn, stopping, and kneeled down to inspect his shoe.

"Hmm, size eleven, polyester black, made in England," he said, grabbing the shoe with Finn's foot still in it. Finn cautiously balanced himself while the gnome kept staring intensely at the shoe, "It has been spit shined before, signs of grass stains and dirt," he gave it a sniff, "and dead stuff."

"Wow, he's good," Jake commented.

The gnome then licked the tip of the shoe, earning a disgusted look from the two.

"You've been in many dungeons. As well as somewhere sugary. You also spent time in a snowy place. …oh, and you've been to Lumpy Space before."

"Wow, you're really good," Finn said, the gnome releasing his foot.

"Years of practice," he said, pointing at his mouth.

"So, why isn't anyone working in the mines?" Jake asked as the group resumed walking, "There are still a crazy amount of shoes left."

"Well, you see, the Shoe Kingdom hit an economical bump and have fallen into a hole they dug in."

"Huh?" Finn asked, not understanding anything about economics.

"It's money talk," Jake said to the boy.

"The shoes you saw in the mines were just plain regular shoes, and nobody wants those. Everyone only wants fancy jewelry encrusted shoes, and there was plenty of it in the mines."

"But those shoes sold a lot, didn't they?" Finn said.

"Well, of course they did, son. Unfortunately, it also ran other businesses out when the rare shoes were easy to come by. So only the most expensive shoes prevailed in the market."

"How was that a bad thing?"

"Rare shoes were easy to damage or stain. You can't wash out the stains of a leather shoe, and it's impossible to repair a damaged diamond shoe. And of course, being a shoe meant it was inevitably going to get dirty."

"But they're still shoes, right? You can still wear them like real shoes," Jake said.

"Those shoes were treated like royalty or ultimate fashion. They'd be worth nothing if they got damaged."

"But what about regular shoes?" Finn asked, "Weren't there any expensive shoes that didn't have jewelry or that kind of junk?"

"Those shoes were ranked by fashion. Damage could easily be repaired but…"

"But, what?"

"Most of the cobblers in the kingdom lost their jobs when the lower businesses fell. And it only got worse when the mines were nearly out of shoes."

"How bad did it get?" Jake asked.

"With the shoes starting to run low, prices for the shoes began to go up. People spent a lot of money for the pricey shoes, and no one had enough money for any other things besides food and water. Cobblers eventually went out of business because people started hoarding their shoes, keeping them safe from damage. Eventually, the economy fell apart, and the Shoe Kingdom is doomed."

Finn felt saddened by hearing this story. Economics wasn't his strong suit, but if it was, he'd figure out a way to get the Shoe Kingdom out of this money jam. That's just how he was.

"How are you coping?" Jake asked.

"Ehh, I'm thinking about moving back to the forests with my family. I mean, I loved the Shoe Kingdom and all, but let's face it, it's doomed."

"Where did all of the money go?" Finn asked.

"To the owner of the mines," he said, "For all of the shoes that were sold in the kingdom, he collected the profit. He became a multibillionaire in the span of a year."

"Where is he now?" Finn asked.

"That's funny. No one knows," the gnome said, "As soon as the economy started to decline, he sold the mines to someone else and hightailed it out of here."

"Hmm, sounds rather fishy," Finn said, stroking his chin.

"I'd say it's more like a matter of monopoly," Jake said.

After a long discussion, the three finally reached the house the miner was telling them about. It was an ordinary building with two stories, a staircase on the side connecting the floors, a blue roof, and a chimney.

"Here we are. The office of Sole Mines, Inc.," the gnome said, "Miners would have their lunches here and rest in between shifts. It also has a fireplace for those could winter nights."

"Rest sounds good. My legs are tired," Jake said.

"If you guys are hungry, we have some food inside the house," he said.

"Awesome, I was getting kind of… wait, 'we'?" Finn said.

"Some of the employees stayed behind," the gnome explained, "They were evicted out of their homes in the Shoe Kingdom."

"Heh, eviction sucks," Finn commented, walking on towards the house.

…

"Guys, I'd like to introduce you to what's left of Sole Mines, Inc.," the gnome said, introducing Finn and Jake to the people in the lounge.

A woman was sitting on a couch, holding a glass slipper in her hand. She had purple skin and yellow hair tied into a bun, a beautiful yellow dress with shoulder cuffs, arm sleeves, and a wavy skirt that stopped around her knees. She wasn't wearing any shoes, but she was sitting in front a table filled with glittering shoes. All she needed was a tiara to be easily mistaken for a princess.

"That's Cindy," the gnome said.

As Cindy waved at the two, the attention was on a pale green person sitting on a desk, with a blue shoe in his hand and a tool in the other. He was wearing blue overalls that had gloves stuffed in the back pocket. He wore a brown shirt under the overalls and was wearing boots that seemed to be made alligator skin. He also wore a raggedy hat, with scratches and patches on it. He turned to look at the two newcomers and his big, blue goggles were clearly seen. His eyes couldn't be seen through them. Next to him was also a pile of shoes, only they were very plain, and another pile on the other side, with the shoes burnt or ripped in various places.

"That's Monty," the gnome said, the green man waved at the two with a smile and the hand carrying a tool.

"And my name is Ed," the gnome said, directing attention to himself, "I forgot to introduce myself earlier."

"I'm Finn, and this is my buddy, Jake," Finn greeted.

"'Sup crazy shoe people?" he said, the room responded with a greeting.

Cindy carefully put the glass footwear down before standing up and walking towards the two.

"I'll show them around, Ed," she said.

The gnome sounded off an "Ok," as she walked onward towards a wall full of photographs, with Finn and Jake following loyally.

"These photos were taken during the peak of our economy," she said as she pointed to a photo with a huge pile of golden shoes, "We keep them as nostalgic reminders. Yeah, I admit it's living in the past, but it's way better than the present."

The photos depicted many events and procedures that occurred in the mines. One photo showed some of the machinery they used to excavate the cave while another showed the building of the mine cart tracks. Finn looked at some of the photos higher up, assuming they were in chronological order. He noticed one that was black and white and had several miners in front of the entrance to the cave.

"Why's that one a different color?" he asked, pointing to the photo.

"Oh, it was taken by the founder of Sole Mines, Inc. He kept a lot of old stuff, like the old school camera he used to take the photo," she explained.

"So that's what the mines looked like before you mined the heck out of it?"

"Yep. The discovery of these mineshafts led to the foundation of the Shoe Kingdom," Cindy explained, "As the founder, he was supposed to be the King."

"Supposed to?" Jake said.

"Yeah. He was only interested in building a company based on selling the shoes. His brother, who was a marketer, sold the shoes in a nearby village from here, which grew as people bought the shoes, and is now known as the Shoe Kingdom. He became the Shoe King instead."

Finn noticed a picture taken in the same large mineshaft they were in back in the cave, only it was cluttered with enough people to fill a castle.

"Are those the miners that worked here?" Finn asked, pointing to it.

"Yep. As soon as word got out that we were hiring miners, we were getting applicants by the day," Cindy exclaimed, as she pointed to another photo with a hall lined up with miners working, "It was here that husbands and boyfriends from all over the world toiled and slaved themselves on their woman's whim."

"I remember my parents arguing about something like that," Jake said.

"Miners did get discounts on the shoes," Cindy explained.

"That's a crud load of craze for a bunch of silly shoes," Finn said.

In response, Cindy's face turned dark and frightening. "It's not craze, it's a love," she said darkly.

Finn, and Jake, gulped at her sudden mood change. Finn obviously said the wrong thing to provoke this side of her, but how was he suppose to know it was insulting shoes?

She couldn't compare to Bubblegum, though.

"So, what happened to the miners?" Finn asked, changing the subject.

"Well…" Cindy said, her attitude normal, "As prices started to go up, we didn't have enough money to pay all of the miners their regular salary. So we had to fire some."

"We started with the inefficient workers," Monty said out loud, still focusing on the show he was tinkering with, "But as prices continued to rise, we had to relieve more and more workers until Sole Mines went out of business."

Finn was astonished at how the mines had such an impact on so many people. It was the driving force that birthed a new kingdom, and it was also the downfall. So many people lost their jobs because of an economical chain reaction. It hurt him to see all of this happening, but no one was getting hurt, only suffering. The poverty driven kingdom of shoes was going to disappear as quickly as it had risen, and the worst part was that Finn didn't know how to help it.

"What's he doing over there?" Jake asked.

"Oh, Monty's just trying to save the economy by decorating plain shoes with quartz and paint," she explained, "They look like the rare shoes everyone used to buy, but I've told him before, it won't work."

"They don't have to be rare to garner any value," Monty shot back, "As long as they look pretty, people are going to want one."

"They were successful _because_ they were rare," Cindy replied, "No one is going to fall for your scam, Monty."

"It's not a scam! I'm trying to save the frikkin Kingdom!"

While the two were arguing, Finn noticed another picture, this time with just a bunch of rocks piled in a tunnel.

"What's with that picture?" he asked.

Cindy, redirecting her attention back at the two, looked at the photo and looked sad.

"That one…well…"

"Is he talking about the cave in?" Monty asked.

Finn and Jake noted the words 'cave-in'.

"Yeah, that one," she to him, turning back to face the duo, "You see, some of the tunnels weren't very stable. We lost several miners to cave-ins and that seriously kicked our industry in the crotch."

"Ouch. Sorry," Jake said sympathetically, "I wouldn't think anyone would want to work in the mines after that."

"No, people still worked," Cindy said, "They knew very well the risks of working in mines."

Finn stroked his chin, thinking about the rock falls and the cave-ins. He thought back to the trap that he and Jake found and couldn't help but try to connect them to the cave-ins in the photos. It was possible that the accidents were also rigged by the same person. Only thing is, nobody would set up traps for nothing, unless they were protecting something…

But what?

"Okay guys!" the gnome said as he entered the room, carrying Styrofoam boxes, "It's lunch time. Today's special is Chinese food!"

Finn suddenly forgot about the mystery as he heard the gnome speak. His stomach responded by giving off a low growl. Finn had not eaten breakfast that day and it was almost noon. He was very hungry.

"Chinese food! Count me in!" Finn said.

"Foreign cuisine!" Jake exclaimed.

"We've been walking for twenty hours," land shark complained, "Can we take a break?"

"Finn and Jake haven't moved from their spot for a while," science cat said, focusing on the device, "We have to catch up to them."

While Finn and Jake were having lunch at the Sole Mines, their old enemies, science cat and land shark, had been walking nonstop towards their destination. At the moment, they were closing in on a nearby train station close to the Water Kingdom and were walking alongside the railroad tracks. They'd have taken the train at the station near the Nut Domain, but apparently the trains were out of service. They never found out why.

During most of the walk, land shark had been very complaint and reluctant to be traveling so close to the Water Kingdom. If one were to guess, it was most likely because of family issues, or someone he didn't want to see lived nearby, or both. He kept his annoyance within himself and avoided stretching the issue because it wouldn't change anything, but that did not keep him from groaning every now and then.

"Hrmm," land shark groaned again.

Science cat sighed, "We aren't going to get there any faster if you keep groaning like that."

Land shark scoffed, "Like I'd want to…"

From the distance, the sound of a train roared ahead them, catching their attention as they looked out at the railroads ahead. The two backed away from the tracks as a precaution as they watched the train far away enlarge in perspective. For some reason, the train was going the other direction, which the duo noticed. Secondly, the train didn't look like the transportation models. It was a more bulky model, kind of ugly for a train, and was moving really slowly. The cat and shark stood still and watched as the odd train moved past them until it came to their sight the third odd thing about the train. Towing behind it were train carts, except they were on backwards, and no one was inside them. But when they heard the sound of screeching metal, there came the fourth oddity about the scene. After the sixth cart towed an indescribable heap of junk on wheels, one of the wheels was damaged and scraping against the rails. Various blades and plates of metal were stacked on one another as the junk rocked on the tracks. Though clearly metal carnage, the shape of it was very reminiscent of a train engine as the grill was still hanging from the heap.

The two watched wordlessly as the garbage was dragged away. The train made another loud whistle a distance away as land shark turned to the feline.

"I think that's why the train was out of service," science cat said, "…or rather, what's left of it."

"Jeez, what happened?" the shark asked as they started walking again.

"That was quite a train wreck," science cat said, "From the looks of it, it was probably an explosion."

"Maybe the engine overloaded?" land shark asked.

"Maybe. We'll find out when we get to the Water Kingdom station," science cat said.

"Uhh, why?" he asked.

"I thought you said we should take a break," the scientist retorted.

"Err, yeah. I did…" he said as he looked down.

The carnivorous fish uttered another groan.

…

Eventually, the two finally reached the Water Kingdom train station. It wasn't as big as the one by the Nut Domain, since there it's one of the main stations, but it was still packed with people with places to go. The two found some seats to rest on while science cat had grabbed a newspaper, curious as to what was the exact nature of the accident and hoping it was published in the papers. As the cat began reading, land shark wanted to see the DNA tracker.

"Hey cat, can I check the tracker for a minute?"

"Sure," he said as he flipped a page.

Land shark took the tracker from the feline's lap and looked at the monitor. According to the trail, Finn was at this very station the previous day. He was still located near the Sole Mines and hadn't moved since science cat confirmed his location.

'Must be resting,' land shark thought.

"Huh," science cat said, "Check this out."

Land shark leaned to his right to see the article the feline was talking about. The article detailed that the train was rigged with explosives. Several people attempted to disarm the bombs, but they failed to stop the engine from blowing up. They managed to save everyone on the train, however.

"Who'd bomb a train?" the shark asked.

"It doesn't say who. There aren't any suspects identified yet," the cat said as the shark returned his attention to the gadget.

Land shark scrolled the map with his fins, checking for any nearby landmarks they can keep an eye out for when they eventually reach his location. Other than the Sole Mines, there weren't any notable locations or buildings for miles other than the Shoe Kingdom. But then he thought, doesn't the Shoe Kingdom have a train station?

He scrolled the map further into the Shoe Kingdom and saw the station right there on the border of the domain's fort. If they took the train to the Shoe Kingdom, they could easily catch up to Finn and Jake.

"Hey science cat," he said, "We can take a train to the Shoe Kingdom, can't we?"

The scientist looked at his friend oddly, "What for? We don't have any money."

"Well, Finn and Jake haven't left the Sole Mines yet, and…uh…" he started to stutter, "…oh right. Money," he said as looked back at the tracker, disappointed.

The sound of a train alerted the people waiting for it in the station. Science cat and land shark perked up at the sound since the train was suppose to be out of commission. They personally saw the wreckage. And yet, closing in was a train with carts full of people, the wheels screeching as they slowed down.

"So the rumors are false," science cat deducted.

"That train is smaller than the Forever Train," land shark pointed out, the train now completely still.

The carts opened the doors as many passengers left, which is what happens when train schedules back up for a day. As this was the Water Kingdom station, most of the characters were aquatic animals or variations of them, such as octopuses, ammonites, sea slugs, sea cucumbers, squids, hermit crabs, sea turtles, and other shelled, mollusk creatures. As soon as they left the carts, the train attendants walked outside and stood by the doorway, ready to accept the new passenger's tickets.

Land shark let out a sigh. He almost expected his parents and brothers to show up in that train cart. How very coincidental and unfortunate that would've been. Inside, land shark laughed at the thought. That would've been _way_ too coincidental. It would be like, for that moment, all laws of reason would be pardoned and the polarity of the universe would turn against him just so that he could have the misfortune to reunite with his family that he did not want to see. Thank goodness there was no possibility of that occurring.

"Elliot?" a feminine voice said.

Too bad the universe loved baiting unsuspecting people with a false sense of security, just for laughs.

From behind the seats the two were resting on stood a family of sharks standing on their tail fins. The largest one was wearing a blue tie, despite having no clip, and a scar above his left eye, next to him was a shark with a pink hat, a beige purse, and long eyelashes, clearly female, and a smaller shark wearing a white and blue striped shirt. Science cat turned around to meet the family, but land shark was praying as hard as he could that he did not just hear the voice of his mother.

"Elliot? Is that your name?" the cat asked him.

"Elliot! You turn around and greet your mom right now!" the father shark nearly shouted.

Land shark, or Elliot, sighed frustratingly, giving up, and turned himself towards the family behind him, lifting up one fin. "Hey guys."

"Elliot!" the mother shark said, hugging her son in glee, "It's so good to see you again!"

"Haven't seen you in years, bro!" the little shark said.

"Yeah… hi guys," Elliot said disdainfully.

"It's been years! How has my baby been?" she said, holding her sons face.

"Probably still living on land," the father said, at which Elliot groaned.

"Land shark, you never told me you had a family in the Water Kingdom," science cat asked.

"Oh! And who is this adorable little companion of yours?" the mother asked, petting the cat.

"Hey, don't do that…it…" he said, denying the patting at first but gave in with a meow. "Mreoowww…"

"He's a friend of mine's, okay?" land shark answered.

"Wow, a scientist," the young fish said, surprised, "I thought they were a myth."

"What the- who told you… ugh!" land shark groaned, putting a fin over his forehead.

"What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you left to college," the mother asked, still petting the cat.

"Mom, I told you I moved away. I _didn't_ go to college," Elliot replied.

"Yeah. That would be expecting too much from you," the father shark retorted, Elliot growling at this.

"Honey, please," the female shark, no longer petting science cat, said to her husband.

"Look, we're just resting here, okay?" Elliot answered, "We're on a journey, so butt out."

"A journey? You mean, like an adventure?" the young shark eagerly asked.

"Ehh, sort of."

"Elliot, what ever happened to living underwater?" the father asked, "Just because we _can_ walk on land doesn't mean we should _live_ on it."

"Dad, again with the land/water talk?" he complained, "It's my life choice. Just leave me alone!"

The father shark crossed his fins.

"It's not a choice I support. There, I said it."

There was an awkward silence around the family, with only the murmur of people and the hum of the train engine keeping the room supplied with sound. Uncomfortable with the air, science cat was about to speak, but Elliot's little brother spoke first.

"So… what kind of adventure are you on?" he said.

"…a long one, okay?" land shark replied.

"Oh! Were you planning on taking the train? I can pay for your tickets if you want," the mother said.

Elliot waved his fin, "No thanks, we don't really-"

"Yes we would!" science cat interrupted, "We need some tickets to the Shoe Kingdom!"

"First land, now shoes?" the father shark said to himself.

Land shark groaned, "Look, the train's about to leave in a few minutes," he said as the line of passengers was beginning to dwindle, "You can't pay for both of our tickets in time."

"That's okay, you can use our Revo Pass," the mother said.

Elliot looked at her in surprise, so did his father but quickly looked irritated.

"What? Our Revo Pass? Seriously?" he said, "You know how much that thing costed?"

"Oh, hush, dear," she said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a card, "Elliot can mail it back to us when he's done with his adventure."

"…fine," the father shark said as she handed the card to her son, "but if you overcharge that card, our next vacation is coming out of your wallet!"

Land shark just groaned as he accepted the pass. "C'mon, science cat, let's go."

"It was nice seeing you guys!" the cat said as he and the shark got up off of their seats and walked towards the train.

"Bye!" the mother waved.

"Find me some slippers!" the young fish said, resulting in a light smack on the head from his dad.

"Don't you start with me, too."

As the two walked towards the train, science cat asked, "You have a nice family. Why don't you talk about them much?"

"There's a reason I moved away from the Water Kingdom," Elliot replied, "my dad is too strict, my mom is overprotective, and my brother is an idiot."

"They seemed like good people," science cat said, looking back at the family leaving the station.

"You wouldn't last a day under their roof," Elliot remarked, looking at the- "And stop calling me Elliot!"

"Tickets please," a fat person made of cheese asked as the two approached the train cart.

Elliot, I mean, land shark, handed the attendant the pass, who sounded off a whistle when he saw it was a Revo Pass. He slid the card in a read by the door and after the reader processed the information, it sounded off a BEEP before the attendant returned the pass to the shark. With entry granted, the two walked in the cart, land shark relieved that he was going to leave the Water Kingdom for the last time, at least he hoped.

From under one of the benches in the station emerged an ice blue cat. With the shark and cat in the train, it ran to the cart to board it, but was stopped by the cheese man.

"Ticket?" he asked.

The cat looked up at him, silently staring with a cute face. The train attendant did not give in to the charm.

"No ticket, no entry," he said as he crossed his arms.

The cat walked away in disappointment, but he had to board the train somehow. He looked around a station for a bag or something he could use to stowaway on the train. He then saw a witch like lady, who had a quilt on her shoulders and uncombed hair, with a bunch of cats following her about to board the train. He just thought of an idea.

"Tickets please," the cheese man asked the crazy cat lady.

She handed him her ticket, which was torn and scratched in some places but still eligible for admission, and the ticket was paid for her and her seven cats. The attendant counted the cats and noted their color; a brown one, a black one, a white one, a purple one, one with a red and white striped hat, one with a fiddle, and one wearing boots. He counted seven. He tore the ticket in half and gave one piece back to the lady, the other being put in a box next to the cart door. The crazy cat lady, whose faces could not be seen under her hair, waltzed on into the cart while her cats followed. The attendant counted them all again just to double check. Yep, seven cats.

It looked like the other carts were done seating passengers. The train should leave soon.

Suddenly, the ice cat jumped onto the cheese man's head and began clawing at his eyes. The man screamed as cheese shavings flew off of his face. After a few good swipes, the cat leapt off of the man's head and dove into the train cart, being sure that he was out of the shark and science cat's sight. While the man was seething with pain, the trained roared and the cart doors closed. The attendant realized this and watched, as best as he could through his damaged face, the trained move on without him.

"Wait! I didn't get on!" the cheese man shouted before clutching his face reflexively.

The commotion of the attack didn't reach the perspective of the passengers, as it happened out of their sight and sound was drowned out by the roar of the train. The only thing that stirred attention was the entrance of the crazy cat lady, and how science cat responded to the line of felines walking in.

"…that one has an eye for me," he said to land shark, who grunted disgustingly in response.

"…and then I said, 'That was a close shave'!" Finn said.

The table erupted in laughter, Monty pounding the table in a show of enthusiastic hilarity.

For the past hour, Finn and Jake had been enjoying their obligatory lunch with the other miners. For the most part, the two were talking about their adventures, although Finn was avoiding the ones that involved Princess Bubblegum. It was hard to talk and listen at the same time as they were eating, the food was very good. Finn had never tried teriyaki chicken, but after this meal, he might never go back.

"Hahaha! Oh man, that was just bad!" Monty exclaimed.

"Hey, it was a spur of the moment," Finn said in defense, "It was the first thing that came to mind when I was watching the Ice King get beaten up like that."

"No it wasn't," Jake said, "You told me on the way back to park that you were gonna make that joke after it was over. Even then, I told you it was bad."

"Okay, I couldn't resist. I couldn't think of anything else witty to say," Finn admitted.

"Yeah, we've all had those moments," Ed said, finishing up the rest of his beef and broccoli dish.

Finn looked at his plate and poked at some rice with his chopsticks, the plate was almost empty and he was getting full. He was also running out of topics to discuss. It was only a matter of time before he and Jake had to resume their adventure. Not like he was sad about it, they had to go to the Dancing Kingdom as soon as possible, but he wanted to learn a bit more about the people who fed him.

"So guys, if Sole Mines is out of business, why are you still here?" he asked.

"Ed already told you about our eviction, right?" Cindy replied.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Finn then remembered meeting Ed back in the mines, only he never found out what Ed was doing in the mines in the first place. "Hey Ed."

"Mhm?" Ed hummed through a mouth full of food.

"What were you doing in the mines? I thought you didn't work anymore."

Ed swallowed. "Well, the mines are dry, definitely, but some people still believe that there may be hidden shoe ores somewhere in the mine. That's what I was doing, looking through the mines for any possibility of rare shoes."

"A discovery like that could potentially turn around the economy of the Shoe Kingdom," Monty said as Finn stuff another piece of chicken in his mouth, "Too bad he hasn't succeeded yet."

"No one has told me to stop yet," Ed beamed.

"We did, after you almost got crushed by that cave-in," Cindy pointed out.

Finn and Jake were reminded about the trap back in the mines. They had totally forgotten about it during lunch because they were busy eating and talking, and talking while eating.

"Oh yeah, guys," Finn fumbled before swallowing, "Has anyone been setting up traps in the mines?"

"Traps?" Monty said, catching the attention of the entire table.

"Yeah, we were wandering in the mines," Jake explained, "And then Finn trips a wire and almost gets smashed!"

The table paused. Such an incident had never occurred before and they were shocked to learn that there were traps in the mines they were still searching through.

"This is the first I've heard of such a thing," Monty said, "The only people who have ever been in the mines were us three."

"So that means…" Finn said, finger on his chin.

"Someone must be sneaking into the mines and setting up traps," Cindy said, cutting Finn off.

"But why? There's nothing left in those mines," Ed said, "Unless whoever they are found a secret stock of precious shoes."

Everyone at the table sat silently, processing the possibility that some random cave dweller may have, in fact, found a secret shaft.

"Maybe they did," Monty said, getting excited, "We should all go check it out!"

The three of them agreed at this, save for Cindy, who merely nodded.

"Hey, uh, guys? We want to help too," Finn said, catching Jake's attention.

"Well, sure," Ed said, "You can beat up the interloper if we find him, and maybe you can find the secret shaft for us."

"Finn, wait," Jake said, "Didn't you say we can't waste our time and we have to get to the Dancing Kingdom as soon as possible?"

"Jake, helping people is never a waste of time," Finn explained, "I want to help the Shoe Kingdom get out of its money problems by doing whatever I can, and that is adventuring."

"Oh, what a wonderful person you are, Finn," Ed said, clapping his hands, "You guys can get started exploring the mines with clearance. We'll clean up here."

"Uh, guys," Cindy chimed, "Are you sure it's safe to leave these two alone in the mines? They don't even know the basics of miner's safety protocols."

"It's just 'keep your hard hat on at all times'," Monty explained, "They're not going to do any actual mining."

"Maybe they should," Ed commented, "Cindy, show them the warehouse and give them pickaxes. We need all the help we can get. Especially if it's free," he said with a wink.

"…" Cindy sighed, "Fine. You two, come with me."

…

Behind the house was a door that led to the warehouse Ed was talking about. The room was rather dusty and dimly lit with a stale air, the result of years of dirt and rust sitting around doing nothing. It was filled with tools and machinery the miners used to excavate the caves. From regular pickaxes and shovels, to drilling machines and real dynamite, it was an amazing sight for a young mind like Finn.

"Okay guys, here are your hard hats and picks," Cindy said, giving the two their supplies.

"Cool. A pickaxe once held by a sweaty, dirty man slaving over his girlfriends' crazy obsession of shoes," Jake explained rather unnecessarily.

Cindy's face turned dark and frightening again, except her head was tilted upward and the lighting was suspiciously amplifying the effect, and her voice resonated like that of a demon, "It's not craze!"

"Uh, I meant 'fascination'!" Jake took back.

"Yes, I guess you could call it that," Cindy said, returning her face to normal, "You guys go on ahead to the mines. I've got to go to the little girl's room." And then Cindy headed for the door, leaving Finn and Jake alone.

Finn took a second look around the room, noting the absurd shapes of some of the tools used for mining.

"So, the miners used this stuff to dig up the shoes. Cool…" Finn commented.

"Hey look. That tool looks like a carrot," Jake said, pointing to a jackhammer.

"Hey, look over here," Finn said, walking to a pile of signs. "'Hard Hat Area'," he read.

He lifted the sign to see the other ones underneath. The next one was a white one that read, 'Read this sign'. He then sifted through more signs to read them, most of them repeating the same thing, until he came upon the last one of the pile, which was a red square sign that read 'Danger! Collapsible Cavern! Do Not Enter!' and had a picture of a skull on it.

"Hey, this is the same one that was above that tunnel that almost crushed you," Jake noticed.

"There was a sign?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I noticed it when the gnome was dragging us out."

Finn looked at the sign while remembering his brush with death. If they had only noticed the sign earlier, they could've avoided tripping the trap. Although, it was odd that someone would set up a trap where there was supposedly the hazard of collapsing tunnels.

And then, it hit him.

"Wait a minute, who'd put the trap in a danger zone?" Finn said.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"Like, why would someone risk setting up the trap in a tunnel where the ceiling could fall any moment?" Finn stated, "That doesn't make sense…unless…"

Slowly, Finn's deduction dawned on the two.

"…the secret shaft was beyond that tunnel, and the sign was posted there to keep people from looking."

Jake gasped, "And the trap was set up just in case someone ignored the sign!"

"Let's go dig through that tunnel Jake!" Finn said, holding up his pickaxe, "The fate of the Shoe Kingdom depends on us!"

"But Finn, these wimpy little axes aren't going to get us through that collapsed tunnel," Jake said, waving the tool, "We're gonna need something a bit stronger."

"Don't worry, Jake," he said, turning around to see the entire room, "we just so happen to be in a room full of digging stuff. There has to be something stronger around here, like a drill or something."

While the boy and dog began looking around the room, a person had been listening to their conversion from behind the door. His or her concern grew as he or she listened, realizing the mistake he or she made. The two were going to look through the mines looking for the secret shaft, and with their deduction, they would surely find it.

'I can't allow them to do that,' he or she thought. 'I can't let them discover the secret shaft.'

The person stepped away from the door and hurried over to the mines. He or she had some more traps to set up, and he or she had to make some preparations in case the secret shaft is found. There was no way he or she would allow the secret to be revealed, they would kill before the mysterious person of an ambiguous gender would let that happen…

It's happened before.

…

"Okay, where would a culprit hide in the mines?" Finn asked.

"Probably somewhere near the secret shaft," Jake said.

Finn and Jake decided to bring many tools from the tool shed, such as shovels and a drill and even doohickeys they didn't know how to use. Jake was easily able to carry the stuff with his enlarged hands but it was still heavy, so he dumped it all in a nearby mine cart when they entered the tunnel. Right now, they were in the main mineshaft discussing their plan to catch the trap-setting culprit.

"So, if we find the secret shaft, we find the culprit," Finn said.

"And the secret shaft is probably beyond the tunnel with trap in it," Jake stated.

"Do you remember which tunnel it was?" Finn asked.

"Err, I think it was the one on the far left," he said, pointing to the tunnel nearest to the massive pile of shoes.

"Let's go!" Finn excitedly said.

The two ran into the tunnel, retracing their steps while looking for the big red sign. They came upon a fork in the tunnels, one of them led to the collapsed cavern.

Only problem is, they couldn't find the sign.

"Jake, are you sure there was a sign there?" Finn asked.

"Of course I am! I distinctly remember it while we were leaving the mines," Jake said, pointing to his head, "I'd never forget a big red sign with a skull on it."

"Hmm."

"…I just don't remember which tunnel it was."

Neither Finn nor Jake could remember which cavern was the one rigged with the trap. One tunnel was dark while the other was lined with rails. But Finn was sure that it had to be the darkened tunnel, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, especially if there was supposed to be a hazard sign.

"Let's take the left one," Finn said, "If it's not that one, we can check the next tunnel."

"Good idea."

As the two entered the tunnel, a mysterious figure from the shaft's entrance watched them and eyed the cart full of their tools.

"Yep, this is the one," Finn said, patting the rock walls that almost crushed him.

"There's no way our pickaxes can dig through that rock," Jake said, tapping the wall with his pick.

"That's why I brought all of those tools. Let's go back and get a drill," Finn said.

Suddenly, the sound of metal squealing resonated through the mines. Finn and Jake heard this coming from the tunnel across them.

"Huh, are Ed and Monty here?" Jake asked.

"Let's go check, maybe they brought more tools."

When the two left the collapsed tunnel, they noticed that their cart carrying their tools had disappeared.

"Our tools!" Finn gasped.

The sound of a mine cart moving caught Finn's ear, looking to the tunnel to his right.

"The sound is coming from over there. Someone's taking our tools!" Jake said.

"Maybe it's the culprit!" Finn said as the boy and dog ran into the tunnel.

At the sound of their footprints, the squealing of metal quickened. The culprit could hear them coming and was pushing the cart as hard as he or she could.

"Stop!" Finn yelled, his echo resounding through the tunnel.

The two ran as fast as they could and yet they still could not catch up to the culprit, unable to see him or her much less the cart. The tunnel was curving leftward as Finn and Jake continued running down the rails until eventually the sound of the squealing metal ceased.

"You hear that? He or she must've stopped," Finn said.

The two eventually reached an opening in the tunnel which led them into another mineshaft like the one by the main entrance except this room was more linear. Ladders and pulley systems lined the walls as well as light bulbs that were recently lit. Only thing that was missing was the culprit who dragged their minecart to the center of the room.

"Where'd he, or she, go?" Finn asked.

"He or she couldn't have gotten far," Jake exclaimed as they looked around the room.

The sound of rocks crackling resonated in the room. Finn and Jake looked around for the source of the sound, as a huge boulder fell from the ceiling. A loud boom echoed in the cave, surprising the heroes as they turned around and saw that the boulder was blocking the exit. The cave still trembled after the boulder landed and Finn and Jake comprehended the boulder before them.

Suddenly, a loud spark sounded off and lights were dimming quickly, eventually the entire cavern plummeted into total darkness.

"Wah! It was a trap!" Finn exclaimed.

"I can't see anything!" Jake yelled.

Finn felt around the room to hold on to so that he wouldn't trip over anything. But his senses were dummied without his sight as he began to get dizzy from the darkness. Thinking quickly, he remembered he packed some matches in his bag. He pulled off his backpack, an instinctive thing he could do without light, and reached into it, feeling around for a small box. He found it and, in his mind, envisioned the box as he opened it and pulled out a matchstick. He felt for the lighter tip and the rough side of the box to strike it on. He found both and proceeded to ignite the match, lighting up a small portion of the cave.

"Phew, light," Jake said, "Good thing you packed matches."

"A hero is always prepared," Finn said.

"But an itty bitty matchstick won't help us in the long run, and we don't have a lot of matches."

Finn looked around, holding the matchstick like a little torch, and squinted into the darkness with what little light there was. He noticed a pile of shoes in the corner and some of them were glistening in the light of the match. He walked over to the pile, watching his steps, and his eyes fell on some glass shoes that got scratched up while they were being mined. Finn had an idea and picked up one of the shoes and placed the match within the shoes cavity. As a result, the glass amplified the light and illuminated the cave better than the matchstick could by itself.

"Wow. Neat thinking, Finn," Jake complimented.

"Thanks. At least we have a sort of flashlight now."

Jake looked around with the new light on and saw a generator across the room. He ran to it and observed it. The power was on, but its cable was cut. Very suspicious.

"Somebody cut the power here," Jake said, holding the clipped cable.

"We have to start looking for the culprit," Finn said, "Then punch his socks off!"

"Well, we can't go back," Jake looked at the boulder blocking the path.

He looked around and noticed that the entire room was a dead end.

"…and we're stuck here."

"But Jake, we have an entire cart full of junk to help us," Finn said, directing him to the cart full of tools they towed in.

Jake walked over to it and picked up a giant drill, frowning when he saw the power cord hanging from it.

"Aw man, it's an electric drill. And the generator's cable was cut."

Finn placed a hand on his chin.

"I have an idea."

…

A person walked through a tunnel, holding a flashlight. He or she was noting the routes the tunnel bored through and noted the few hidden routes that would lead to the secret shaft. Finn and Jake have been dealt with. The others would inevitably start looking for them.

The sound of rocks getting chewed up bought his or her attention, looking back to see a small hole in the wall with bits of pebbles coming through it. The hole was growing bigger and bigger. Someone was drilling through it.

"I see a light!" a voice on the other side said aloud. It sounded like that boy.

This wasn't good, he or she thought as the person immediately ran down the tunnels. If they followed the tunnel, they would surely find the shaft. There was no time to lose.

The rock wall fell apart, submitting to the dominating power of the drill. Finn and Jake, with a giant drill in his hand, walked over the rubble and observed the next tunnel they were in.

"Huh, no light," Finn said, "but I was sure I saw a light here."

"Maybe you're just imagining things?" Jake suggested, unwinding his arm. "At least we're out of that shaft."

"Which way should we go, now?" Finn asked.

"Hmm…"

Before they said another word, the tunnel started to shake. Jake got scared, worried that their drilling may have caused another cave-in.

"AHHH! Is the cave coming down?" Jake worriedly exclaimed.

Finn looked to the left were the tunnel's shaking was concentrated. "I don't think that's the cave…"

The rumbling grew bigger, and there was a voice in the back of their heads that told them to run. They weren't sure why they had this feeling, until the source of the rumbling came into view as a giant boulder tumbling towards them.

"AAAHHHHH!" they yelled as they back and started running, Jake still holding on to the giant drill.

"Isn't this copyright infringement?" Finn yelled as he ran over the rails.

"No! It's a parody!" Jake answered.

A pile of rocks came into view of the tunnel. Finn and Jake jumped over it while it crumbled under the boulder behind them. A cart on the rails came into view then, Finn and Jake almost crashing into it. The cart was obliterated by the boulder but it had yet to stop. It did slow it down for a bit.

"Finn! Up ahead!" Jake yelled.

It was the last thing they wanted to see. Through the small gaps the light was slipping through, Finn and Jake could see a part of the tunnel caved in. It was a dead end.

"What do we do?"

Finn had to think quickly. "I got an idea! Wind up your body!"

As they halted at the dead end, Jake used his powers and started curling up his body very quickly. Whatever Finn was planning, it better work, for their sake.

"Grab that drill! And prepare to bash that boulder!" Finn shouted.

The boulder was almost there. No second thoughts. This plan better work.

Finn grabbed Jake from behind and pushed with all his force as Jake uncoiled at an intense speed, the drill spinning insanely fast. The boulder and the drill collided, the drill piercing the boulder as the weight pushed against the two. If the boulder didn't shatter before Jake was completely unwinded, the boulder would crush them.

Two incredible forces pushing against each other, only one will fold under the superior force.

And then, like a house of cards, the boulder shattered into pieces, giving in to the teamwork of Finn and Jake. They propelled themselves above the rubble as an effect of force as Jake's spinning was starting to slow down. Eventually, Jake stopped and released the drill, teetering from dizziness.

"Uh…are we dead?" he asked.

"No man. We survived!" Finn said, raising his fists into the air. He turned around and pointed at the rubble, "Ha! Stupid boulder! Thought you could pull an Indy on us, huh?"

"Finn!"

"What? 'Indy' isn't copyrighted, is it?" he asked.

"Uh, I don't know. But back to the story," Jake said, shaking his head from the dizziness, "I'm willing to bet that this boulder was a trap."

"Maybe it was the culprit?"

"Definitely. We should go up the tunnel and investigate."

"Not like we could go anywhere else," Finn stated, "Remember? Our only exit has been blocked."

"All the more reason to go up this tunnel. Let's go man," Jake said, leading the way.

"We should be careful of any more traps, though," Finn remarked.

Although in his head, he was glad there were traps lacing the mines. It made the mines more exciting, and more like a dungeon.

…

Like Finn said, they had to be wary of any more traps. That precaution never held more truth as the two explored the mines. The first trap they encountered triggered a wall of fire spouting at them, but their drill managed to allow them through the fierce flames. The next trap was a spike pit and Finn almost fell in, but Jake managed to nullify the trap with his powers by stretching over it. The further they spelunked into the mines, the deadlier the traps got. They must've been getting close.

"You see how I killed that giant cave worm?" Finn said happily.

"Yep, sliced it cleanly in half," Jake said, "But you would've been done for if it weren't for me and my drill."

"Maybe," Finn admitted, "You know, that drill is so awesome. We should ask Ed if we can keep it."

"Yeah. Having a drill around, we can do anything!" Jake laughed.

"Even pierce the heavens!"

The two walked for a while, having activated no traps for the past few minutes. It was rather odd, as they had been defying danger around every corner so far, that a peaceful walk seemed out of place now. However, the two still kept their guard up. A trap could spring at any moment.

"Hey look, there's another shaft up ahead," Jake said, pointing to an exit.

The two paced quickly into the shaft. It led to a large room whose walls glittered sporadically. They couldn't see much of the room with what little light they brought, until it was brought to Finn's attention that the matchstick in the glass shoe was beginning to burn out.

"Oh cram! Our lights almost out," Finn exclaimed, "Jake, hold this while I get another match."

Jake held onto the glass footwear while Finn brought out a matchbox. He lit up one of the matches he pulled out just before the light in the shoe burnt out. With the match lit, he retrieved the glass shoe and placed the light inside, revealing the rest of the room. What Finn and Jake saw astonished and stunned them with awe.

The entirety of the room's walls was different shades of green with sparkling quartz stone dotting the rock. There were huge piles of shoes lining the wall, but the shoes themselves were amazingly beautiful. They glistened and shined like gold and gems, as that's what they were made of. Golden shoes, ruby slippers, pearl shoes, even shoes of a combination of priceless minerals. It was like a secret treasure room they had stumbled upon.

They found the secret shaft.

"Jake, I think this is the secret shaft Ed was looking for," Finn said, walking towards the piles.

Jake stretched his arm and grabbed a shoe that was the shiniest of a pile. "Whoa!" he said in amazement, "These shoes are studded with diamonds and gems!"

Finn looked at a pile of pink shoes glittering in the light. He grabbed a pair of pink shoes forged from a priceless mineral lined with diamonds and gold lining.

"You think…maybe…Bubblegum would like one of these?" he asked shyly.

"Dude," Jake, with a snarky look, said, "If you gave her those shoes, she would marry you!"

Finn blushed at the thought, avoiding the memory that she was already marrying someone else.

"Eh, heh heh."

"Nah, you should save those shoes for your wedding and give her those instead of a ring," Jake taunted.

Finn blushed even harder, not listening to Jake but instead fantasizing his proposal to Bubblegum. "Or maybe she'll make me her boyfriend?"

"What?"

"Err, I mean, forget what I said!" Finn exclaimed, putting the shoes back with a very red face, "Forget I asked."

The two were oblivious to the sound of steps coming from the tunnel. It was until the steps had entered the mineshaft did they hear someone walk in. Finn and Jake turned around to see the person in the mineshaft only to see Cindy standing there.

"Cindy!" they said.

"Cindy! Look! We found the secret shaft!" Finn exclaimed.

"I know," she responded with an uninterested voice.

"These shoes should help save the Shoe Kingdom!" Jake said.

"No they won't."

"Huh? But just look at these shoes!" Finn said, grabbing a pair from the pile, "This is the kind of stuff you'd find in treasure chests!"

Cindy did not move or change expression.

"Cindy?"

Cindy sighed. "I was hoping you guys wouldn't find this shaft."

"Huh, what's that supposed to mean?" Jake asked.

"I'm sorry, but now that you have discovered the secret shaft…" Cindy said as she brought a weapon out from behind her, "…I cannot let you leave," the machine whirred and roared as she revved it, the blades spinning wildly as they were set aflame, **"ALIVE!"**

She dashed towards the heroes with a chainsaw set aflame, a mad ambition on her face that screamed blood thirst. Finn and Jake ducked to avoid the spinning blades and split. This woman had every intention of killing them.

"AHH!" Finn yelled, "Wait! You are the culprit who set those traps?"

Cindy didn't answer, she eyed him, then dashed at him with the machine blaring with power. Finn avoided the swing just barely, but tripped on the floor over a lump of dirt in the ground. Cindy was about to swing downward at the helpless boy when Jake intervened.

"Finn!" Jake yelled as he launched the drill at her.

Cindy retaliated by swinging the blade at the large metal, sparks flying as the blades were cutting away at the drill. Finn wasted no time and propped himself back up, away from the fireworks. Finn watched as the drill and chainsaw assaulted each other. Only one weapon was going to win this standoff.

After a while, the screeching metal stopped and a large object fell to the ground with a thud. Jake looked at his drill and stared at the eyesore of a wound the drill had. The drill had been cut in half and rendered useless. The flaming chainsaw was still good as new.

Finn unsheathed his sword and attempted to swing at the girl. Cindy saw him coming and counter by revving the chainsaw and swinging it at him. The two blades collided and let loose a shower of sparks all over the place. Finn struggled to push the chainsaw back while enduring the onslaught of hot metal on his skin. After a few seconds, Finn pulled away and jumped backwards, Cindy eyeing him angrily. Finn looked at his sword and gasped.

There was a huge notch in the blade from where it collided with the chainsaw. The mineral was still seething with heat, emitting a nauseating smoke. The fact that the chainsaw was able to damage his sword, made of pure gold, meant that regular weapons wouldn't last in a standoff with her chainsaw.

This was bad.

"RUN!" Finn yelled.

Jake abandoned the drill and bolted to the exit, following Finn as they ran. The sound of the engine revving followed them, looking back to see the crazed woman determined to kill them.

"She really is crazy!" Jake yelled.

Up ahead, there was a fork in the tunnel, one of which was blocked by crumbled rocks. The odd thing was, Finn swore they came into the shaft from that direction. But it looks like they have no choice but to take the right tunnel to deter the crazed chainsaw maiden.

They ran into the tunnel sloped upwards, determined to find an exit where they could take the fight to. The sound of screeching metal echoed in the tunnel. It wasn't Cindy, they thought, because the sound was coming from ahead of the tunnel. From the darkness emerged a cart filled with red sticks, tumbling down the tunnel without rails, causing the wheels to emit sparks. Finn and Jake just barely dodged the tumbling cart, looking back to see if it would hit Cindy. She evaded it to, only she also used her flaming weapon to light the sticks in the cart. It was dynamite.

A loud boom emanated throughout the mines, the rumbling could be felt from outside of the mines. Inside, the explosion caused the tunnel to start caving in on Finn and Jake. They had to hurry.

"We gotta get out of here! The cave is giving away!" Jake yelled.

"What about Cindy?" Finn said.

"The one trying to kill us? Forget about her! We have to worry about ourselves!"

An opening up ahead came into sight. They ran as fast as they could, stones and boulders falling left and right. The tunnel would cave in at any second.

The two leapt faithfully into the light at the other end, the rocks piling up behind them and sealing the entrance. The stumbled as they landed, watching the rubble pile up as the trembling of the cave slowed down to a stop. The tremors had ceased. Cindy did not make it.

"…Cindy…" Finn said sadly.

Even though she tried to kill them for discovering the secret shaft, Finn would never wish death upon another person. Sure, they were safe now, but Finn wanted to plead with her if she could turn in the treasure and become good. He wouldn't resort to death as an answer unless there was absolutely nothing else he could do to convince her otherwise.

"…we should go and tell Ed and Monty what happened," Jake said, turning around.

"…yeah. We should…"

Suddenly, the sound of crumbling rock was heard behind them. They looked to see something glowing under the rubble, followed by pebbles sliding downward. From the wall of rubble emerged a spinning blade on fire. There was simply no way, they thought, that she could've survived that.

The rocks fell apart as Cindy emerged from the rubble with small bruises. Finn and Jake took a moment to absorb the scene before running off in the other direction. As long as Cindy had that chainsaw, she was unstoppable.

"We gotta figure out a way to incapacitate her!" Finn said as they ran.

"Dude, she… wait. 'Incapacitate'? Have you been reading?" Jake asked, then shook his head to get serious, "She has a laser guided flaming chainsaw. That's a top-of-the-shelf weapon. How can we beat that?"

"We have to figure out a way. We just have to!"

The two ran into another cavern, this time littered with stalagmites and stalactites and the sound of water running could be heard. There was no sign of miner activity here, apparently the miners left this place untouched as there weren't any shoes to mine here.

"I have an idea," Finn said, the sound of the chainsaws coming closer, "Hide."

Cindy rushed into the cavern, waving her flaming weapon, as she looked around the room for the two heroes. This room was a dead end, she thought. She knew this because she had fully explored the mines after the discovery of the treasure filled secret shaft. The only rarity in this part of the mines was the shoes hidden under water.

"Come out, Finn and Jake," she said into the darkness, "You aren't leaving this place alive, so just give up!"

"Cindy!" Finn said, his voice bouncing off the cavern walls, "Answer us a few questions at least. You were the one who set those traps, did you?"

"Yeah, so?" Cindy walked around, investigating the cave.

"Why? Why did you set up those traps?"

"To keep people from finding the secret shaft."

"Why do you want to keep it a secret so badly?" this time, Jake asked, his location hidden by the echoes of his voice.

"Because it is a gold mine that will make me rich. With such riches, I can buy the Shoe Kingdom and become the new royalty," Cindy said as she approached a stalagmite.

She revved the engine and swung at the rock, slicing cleanly through it. The rock fell to the side, revealing no one behind it.

"If you are so rich, why are you still around the mines?" Finn asked, undeterred by the sound of the chainsaw cutting apart the rock.

"I've been waiting for the owner of the mines to return. I contacted him and offered a huge sum for ownership of the mines," she answered as she moved to a different rock to look through, "Once the mines are mine, I will reveal the location of the secret shaft, sell the priceless shoes, and become filthy rich!"

"And the traps. Did you use them on other people?" Jake asked.

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, I did."

"You're a monster!"

"A rich monster, thank you," she retorted, "I had no choice but to murder those workers before I would let the secret mineshaft be revealed. Money is the most important thing in my life, right next to shoes."

She spotted Finn's shadow behind a stalagmite. She quietly walked towards it, keeping the engine of her weapon humming lowly. When she got close enough, she gripped the spinning blades tightly and revved the engine, ready to swing.

"Time to die."

The rock cut cleanly in half, the other half falling to the side with a thud. She looked over the slightly melted rock expecting a decapitated kid, but instead saw nothing hiding behind it. However, the shadow of the boy's hat was still being casted. She looked to her left in the opposite direction of the shadow, only to see his dog, Jake, ears pointed upwards to mimic the hats shadow with the illuminated shoe behind him.

"Hi," he waved.

Finn shouted as he ambushed Cindy, "YAHHH!"

Cindy turned around and saw an object swiftly thrown at her. She reacted by shielding with the flaming edge of her weapon, slicing the object in half. The contents of the object, a can of peanut butter, spilled all over her dress and the floor, gooey from the heat of the blade. Cindy took a moment to look at herself. The peanut butter had smeared all over her skirt and on her shoes. Seeing the ruined shoes, she dropped her chainsaw and kneeled down quickly, attempting to clean them before the stains became permanent.

"Gah! Not my shoes!" she shouted disdainfully, taking off her shoes and bringing out a cloth.

Finn ran towards her and delivered a fierce kick to her grounded weapon, knocking it yards away and into the water. The weapon sizzled upon entry, rendering it useless.

"Now Jake!" Finn yelled.

Jake launched himself at the woman, arms elongated, and tackled her to the ground. She struggled but was unable to keep him wrapping his limbs around her, constricting her arms and legs.

"I got her!" Jake exclaimed.

"Unhand me, mutt!" she commanded as she struggled, "Do you know how hard it is to wash stains out of silk? It's nearly impossible! I must scrub my shoes before the stains solidify!"

"Wow, even when she's been captured, all she can think about is her shoes," Finn said as Jake stood up, still binding Cindy.

"Ha ha, you psychopathic peanut butter flavored shoe fanatic," Jake taunted as Finn walked into the water to fetch the weapon.

He picked it up and observed it. It was yellow and had a canister for the fuel on the outside. It had two handles and several buttons on one side. Oddly, the blade for the chainsaw was gone, just a long gap into the machine. Finn curiously pressed a button and a string of blades whipped out of the weapon, forming the shape of a chainsaw.

"Don't play with that!" Cindy yelled, "That thing costs more than your life!"

"What is this thing anyway?" he asked, turning around.

Cindy looked away, "Hmph!" She didn't feel like answering, but she didn't have much of a future anyway. She let herself get caught by a boy and his dog, "It's an 'All Purpose Blaze Blade'. I used it to set up the traps here and drill my way around the cave."

"Drill?" Finn repeated.

He looked at the control panel of the weapon and noted a small picture of a drill above a button. He pressed it and the blades shaping the chainsaw reassembled themselves into a spiral. Finn awed at the transformation, forgetting momentarily about their captive.

"You can play with it later, Finn," Jake said, "We gotta go turn in Cindy."

"Oh, right."

Finn pulled a line from the weapon, spurring the engine until the blades caught on fire. The drill rotated slowly as Finn walked up to a wall.

"Let's drill our way out!" Finn said excitedly as he drove the weapon into the rock.

"That's not a toy!" Cindy shouted.

"Let him have his fun," Jake said, watching the rock wall tear apart.

…

After Finn and Jake left the mines, Ed and Monty contacted the police of the Shoe Kingdom. They arrived on cars that had giant walking boots instead of wheels, oddly. Finn and Jake told them what had happened and Cindy's crime, as well as the secret shaft hidden in the mine. Ed went into the mine to investigate, noting Finn's path he took back out. As the police cuffed Cindy and led her towards the car, she turned to them and spoke.

"You know, I had been waiting months for the owner to return," she said, the police men still keeping a tight grip, "If only he had returned earlier, I could've gotten away with it all."

"Sorry, Cindy. But sometimes, the universe works against you," Monty said.

Cindy let out a small scoff as she was escorted into the police unit. Monty then turned to Finn and Jake.

"I still can't believe it was her this whole time," Monty expressed his disbelief, "I mean, she was crazy about them shoes, but to go this far?"

"I know crazier people," Finn humored, "…well, one anyway."

"But still, she actually _killed_ people," Monty exclaimed, "I don't know what to say."

"You can say 'I should've known better!'" Jake said, imitating an old man while shaking his fist, "It might make you feel better about things."

"But, other than her obsession with shoes, there weren't any other hints I could catch."

While they were talking, Ed was running out of the mines holding a pair of pink glittering shoes, the same ones Finn had when they discovered the shaft.

"It's true! They found it! The secret shoe ore!" Ed said as he stopped in front of them, "And these are much rarer than we thought!"

"Whoa…" Monty said as he took the shoes, "Ruby glass gem, with diamond studs and gold laces. No way can this be natural!"

"It's true! The secret ore is full of valuables like those!" Ed said as he felt like dancing.

"These shoes have the potential to purge the kingdom of its economy!" Monty said, excitingly holding the shoes upward in praise, "The Shoe Kingdom is saved!"

Finn watched the two dance and felt happy about himself. Not only did he put a psychotic criminal to jail, but he also saved an entire kingdom through it. He did a massive favor for them, and he felt good about it.

"You know, man," Jake said, "That was some quick thinking back there. When did you get so smart?"

"Uh, I don't know, actually. It all just came to me in the form of a hunch, or something," Finn shrugged.

Finn honestly didn't know where the ideas came from. The peanut butter, the drill, the glass shoe flashlight, he normally wouldn't have thought of all of those things under normal circumstances. They spawned merely as ideas and Finn was never sure if they would work, but they did and they were still alive thanks to him.

"Well, your hunch saved our butts back there," Jake put a hand on his shoulder, "You're becoming a better hero every day."

"Heh, yeah…" Finn replied modestly.

"Hey Finn," Ed said to them, stopping his dance, "We want to thank you so much for doing all of this for us."

"It's no problem. We're adventurers, we do this kind of stuff all the time," Finn said.

"But we want to thank you somehow," Monty, who also stopped dancing, said, "We can let you have one of our special shoes for free."

"We don't need anything, really."

"Are you sure? We have a wide selection of shoes, like speed shoes, fire shoes, mountain climbing shoes, gliding shoes…"

As Finn rambled on, he looked at the pink shoes he was holding and thought to himself.

"…actually, I'd like the ones you're holding."

"Huh?" Monty and Ed looked at the pink pair of shoes, "You want these shoes?"

"Yeah."

"_These_ pink shoes?"

"Yeah," Finn said with more emphasis.

"These girly ones?"

"Is there a problem with the shoes I want?"

"No, not really," Monty and Ed looked at each other, "In fact, we are totally fine if you like this kind of stuff."

Monty gave Finn the shoes. Finn received them before it hit him just what exactly the implications were. He blushed at the realization.

"Wait. This isn't for me!" Finn said in his defense, "I want to give these to someone!"

"Oh…" Monty said, he and Ed abandoning their original thought, "Sorry."

"Heh, I think I know who that 'someone' is," Jake said as he elbowed Finn.

"That's personal!" Finn shot back.

Jake laughed as Finn took his backpack off and put the shoes inside for safe keeping.

"So, what are you guys going to do?" Ed asked.

"We're on an adventure to the Dancing Kingdom," Jake said, "We're trying to get there in less than a month."

"Less than a month?" Monty asked, "That's a pretty difficult task. You shouldn't be wasting your time here."

"Helping people isn't a waste of time," Finn said, "And I'm glad I was able to help you guys get your kingdom back together."

"We still can't thank you enough for what you have done for us," Ed said, "I wish you luck on your adventure."

Finn climbed Jake as he grew in size, getting ready to leave.

"Hey, do you guys have a blacksmith?" Finn asked.

"Yes, but our blacksmiths only work on shoes," Monty answered, "They're what we call 'hardcore cobblers'."

"Oh, that's okay. Just asking," Finn said as Jake started walking.

"Thanks again Finn and Jake!" Ed shouted.

"The Shoe Kingdom will always remember you!" Monty exclaimed.

Finn waved back at them until Jake walked a far enough distance that they couldn't be seen. Only a small piece of the mines could be seen from their view. Finn turned back around and unsheathed his sword, looking at the gaping scar it had. He scowled, remembering his decision to have it fixed by a blacksmith earlier. The blade definitely needed to be repaired now.

"Man, my sword got all jacked up back there," Finn stated.

"Gold isn't exactly the same as metal," Jake said, "It's just a heck of a lot pricier."

"I can't use this sword now. I have to get it fixed," Finn said as he sheathed it, "First thing we do when we get to a town, we find a blacksmith."

"Heh, now you're prioritizing," Jake commented.

"It's okay, though. I got a different weapon I can use."

"What's that?" Jake said as he turned his head around.

Finn was holding the chainsaw Cindy had earlier, only it was now in sword mode, it flames glowing fiercely as Finn wielded it.

"Whoa! You kept it?" Jake asked.

"I'm just using this as a substitute until my sword is fixed," Finn said, shutting off the weapon and putting it in his bag, "Cindy owes me, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess she does," Jake said, "Oh! That reminds me, we should get back to our lesson about priorities."

"I don't see why not?" Finn said.

"Okay, last time, we were talking about weapons," Jake said, Finn eagerly listening, "I already told you almost everything about the priorities for weapons, so we'll move on to health."

"Ha, ok."

"There are many dangerous things in the world you can't fight with swords. Illness being one of them. So note the health precautions on your adventure."

"I'm listening."

"Before you do your business in the open, look around for some large leaves, except for the poisonous ones. I don't want to go into detail about the monster of a rash you get if you don't pay attention…"

**~End of Chapter 4~**

I let this chapter become longer than it needed to be. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it. And I understand if you didn't like it so much. There are some errors and irregularities here…

We get to see some more of Matthew here, and we met land shark's family. How cute. But what is up with that ice cat? You'll find out soon.

Not much of a cliffhanger this time, but you still get a sneak peek.

Next chapter: **Fight for your Life, at the Center of the Earth!**

"_It's a huge skeleton!"_

"_They just…disappeared."_

"_What have you done to my friend?"_

"_Welcome to Creep Underworld!"_

"_You have no choice! Fight, or Die!"_

"_I can't keep going…"_

"_Your fate rests in the hands of our overlord."_

"_You really are a creep!"_

"_This is it…I'm going to die."_

"_The decision is final!" _

"_Finn! Jake! I've missed you!"_

Chapter 6 will be uploaded at LandofOoo dot com before this site gets it, so go check out the forum and sign up while you're at it! But don't forget to review the story here. It needs to look good for the readers to see.

See you next time!


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